The mind of a Slytherin
by Mia-Zeklos
Summary: Lucius and Narcissa fanfic; most of it is about their school years and generally, random moments in their life. Chapter names thanks to slytherin-psychology on Tumblr. Most of the chapters are really short, but they are meant to be like that.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: For some reason, I wanted to write a fanfic for this pairing a long time ago and now I got the inspiration I needed. All the credit for the names of the chapters goes to slytherin-psychology on Tumblr; those sentences were the exact missing piece of the whole thing. I don't know you, mate, but I'll never learn to use Tumblr well enough to see if you wrote me back, so.. I hope if you see this in any way, you won't be mad at me. Or at least not much.**

**Chapter 1 – It's hard to ignore a Slytherin**

"Oh, _come on_, Black! Won't you stop this hard-to-get thing already?"

"I'm sorry, Malfoy, but no. I won't go out with you even if you were the last wizard on earthly face. Now please leave me alone."

Narcissa turned her back on him and just left calmly, making her way to the Great Hall. Lucius groaned. Was he _really _forced to beg a fourth-year to go out with him? He was a fifth-year and every girl in his year, any year below, and even some of the sixth-years would be pleased to say 'yes' to him. He could get any other girl easily. But not her.

"Black. Look at it this way. We'll go there just as _friends._ It won't be a date or anything. We'll just go out like friends."

"Malfoy. Look at it this way. NO."

"But why?" he shouted when she pretended not to hear him.

"Because you suck badly!" she snapped; her face showed how annoyed she actually was. He squinted. There was no other girl in this school – or, actually, anywhere – who was able to talk to him like this without getting hexed in the same instant.

"You know, that's not what your sister said when I…"

Narcissa immediately turned back to him; her blue eyes sparkled dangerously and his voice died. If there was something that could really piss her off was an offense to her sister Andromeda, currently in Lucius' year.

"What did you just said?" she asked quietly. Lucius was amazed. How could something as sweet as a blue-eyed fourteen-years-old blonde look so dangerous?

"Nothing." He said innocently. "Absolutely nothing."

"Fine then." Narcissa said and left him alone in the corridor again. He narrowed his eyes. He just should win this battle. She couldn't ignore him forever.

He ran his way up on the stairway and sat next to her on the Slytherin table. She rolled her eyes.

"Malfoy, I'm serious. This is harassment. Leave me alone!"

"Just give me a chance." He said and smiled, trying to put all his charm in that smile. "Just one chance. And if I'm really _that _awful and you still hold your opinion after one date, I'll leave you alone. I promise."

Narcissa remained silent for a minute, and then sighed.

"Deal."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Slytherins aren't always arrogant; arrogance is used as a mask when we feel threatened.**

It was a snowy Sunday. Lucius could see that Narcissa was freezing, even with her winter cloak on. It was the late December already; just two days to the Christmas vacation.

They entered "The Three Broomsticks" in silence and Cissy chose a table.

"Here I am. In Hogsmeade. With you." She said. "Happy now?"

"Couldn't be happier." Lucius said and smirked. Narcissa sighed again; it was one of those sighs of desperation that only appeared when he was around.

"Maybe, Malfoy, if you weren't such an arrogant prat, we would get along better."

He could never tell her that it was all because of her; how is supposed a Malfoy to admit to a fourth-year that he actually fancies her? No way, of course. It was better for everyone to think that he just wants her around him for some reason. Her closest friends already suspected what the truth was, he thought; she was the only one who still couldn't figure it out.

"I'm not arrogant." He tried to defend himself.

"Yes, you are." She contorted. "You always have that behavior – you think you can have whatever or whoever you want. People do everything for you, like if you're a god or something. I have no idea why you even invited me to come today, when there are probably even some _Gryffindor_ girls who would kill to sit here with you right now."

Even though she still looked at him in rebellion, there was something nervous in her voice. Was it possible? Hope slowly raised its head into Lucius' soul. Maybe, just maybe, he still had a chance with her. Only one way to find out, he thought. Time to set his natural charm free. If she actually had any feeling for him, she would react.

"Cissa?" he said hoping that his voice wasn't trembling and that it was his usual drawl that showed nothing but polite interest. "Is there something else you want to tell me?"

"Like what?" Narcissa asked and he could see that her bright blue eyes widening in panic. He smirked and tried to answer, but then she got mad at him – again.

"You're an idiot, Malfoy." Narcissa hissed. Her pale cheeks were now burning as she realized that he was trying to use his charm – that worked so well on any other girl – on her. "Here, you got the chance you wanted. Now I'm out of here. And stop chasing me, because it won't help you."

And then she just stormed out the door; her platinum blond hair followed her movements and made her look like the winter storm outside. Lucius desperately touched his forehead with the cold table; like the coldness would chase away the memory of what an idiot he was.

She was right after all. He _was _an arrogant prat, and he knew perfectly well why he was acting like that – because he felt insure and he didn't want to show it. Not in front of her, at least, the girl he wanted to see him as her idea of strong and tough man.

"That was a bad one, mate." Nott said as he walked past his table, trying to sound as he was actually sorry for it. "Poor Narcissa. I guess that now she'll need someone to escort her to the school."

Lucius took a deep breath, but did not answer. That was exactly what Nott wanted; to make fun of him. Alright then, he wasn't about to give him the pleasure.

"Fuck you." He groaned without even raising his head.

In the same moment Lucius changed his mind and looked at Nott, trying to look amused.

"Well, you saw her. She fancies me, I knew it." He smirked as he leaned his back on his chair. "But you can try your luck with her too, if you want. At least she's pretty."

When Nott left, his lips still curled in a mocking smile despite the other boy's words, Lucius hit himself as hard as he could.

_You idiot. _He thought._ That's totally _not _how you win a girl's heart._

OK, being an arrogant prat was out the list of success already. Time to try something else.


	3. Chapter 3

**3 – Despite common misconceptions, Slytherins have a conscience. They just sometimes ignore it to achieve their goal.**

_Just keep calm. He'll get bored of it in some moment. Ignore them. Ignore them…_

Lucius stood up from the armchair in the Slytherin common room he was sitting in and went straight to Narcissa and Jacob Nott. They were sitting near the fireplace, and she was laughing at something the other boy had said. Nott glanced at Lucius and winked at him, then turned his attention back to Narcissa.

"Black. We need to talk." Lucius said. She stared at him in surprise.

"I don't think so, Malfoy. I told you what I wanted to."

"No, I'm serious. We _really _need to talk."

Narcissa sighed. Lucius was starting to hate these sighs; they meant that she's really annoyed at him. She left her place and went to the deserted part of the common room.

"What do you want?"

"You mustn't trust Nott." Lucius said, lowering his voice. "He's making fun of you."

The girl raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? And how exactly?" The skepticism in her voice was obvious.

"He… he made a bet with… with Zabini." Lucius said. He was making up the story right now and he had no idea what to say next. "Yeah. A bet. He said that he'll have a date for you in four days and err… he said that he can become your boyfriend if he wants."

Narcissa just stood there, but Lucius could see some kind of confusion pass through her piercing blue eyes.

"He… he really did that?" she asked quietly.

Lucius suddenly felt miserably. How could he do that to her? It was all a lie, of course, but he was sure that he can be better than Nott if he just once win her heart… But still… Could he cause such a pain to her?

"Yes." He nodded finally. "He did it. I'm sorry, but I just wanted to warn you."

"Thank you… thank you for telling me anyway." Narcissa whispered and then silently left the room, climbing the stairs to her dormitory.

Lucius froze where he stood. Wait, this wasn't part of the plan. The idea included Narcissa shouting to Nott and not letting him defend himself, and then never talking to him again. It definitely _didn't _include a silent acceptation from a hurt Narcissa.

"Cissa…" Lucius said. She glanced at him questioningly.

"Yes?"

For half an instant, he had changed his mind. He wanted to tell her the truth and everything else, but he would be too ashamed to admit _everything_ to her. And plus, she'll never speak to him again, even if she knew. He felt guilty. It wasn't fair to lie to her like that just because he was jealous.

As for her feelings now... He was sure that she didn't even like Nott that much. She would get over it. And Lucius honestly didn't care about Nott and his feelings.

So, instead of actually saying something important, he just smiled slightly.

"Goodnight."

She tried to smile back – and almost succeeded.

"Goodnight, Malfoy." She said and closed the door behind her.

Lucius tried to ignore that tiny voice in his head shouting at him what an evil act was that and smiled to himself. _Soon, _he thought. It was for her own good, wasn't it? Nott was just not the right person for her. _Soon this whole thing will work._


	4. Chapter 4

**So, since from this point I'm switching to totally random order of what's actually happening – and when, I'll try to make it as clear as possible in the first sentences of the chapter.**

**Oh, and by the way, Lucius' sister is a canon character; he has three sisters, all of them younger than him – Meliora, Urbana and Quintessa. His father is named Abraxas and his mother – Abril Rosier (just to mention in case they'll be used later in the fic).**

**Chapter 4 – Slytherins are great pretenders.**

Narcissa smiled proudly at her friend – again – as she looked at the new prefect badge on her school uniform. She was a fifth-year now, a prefect along with Percival Yaxley.

"Congrats, Cissa!" said Lucius. "I've always knew you'll be the new Slytherin prefect for your year!"

"Thank you, Lucius." She smiled at him too. There was an untold agreement between them two since the end of the last school year. They were friends now, but their friendship was pretty fragile.

So Narcissa felt confused when she stared at him, probably without him noticing at all. She had mixed feelings for him as she looked at his calm silver eyes and his trademark smirk. His hair was longer now, almost reaching his shoulders, and it looked like platinum on the light of the candles…

_Now, now, Cissy, don't be so naïve, _she said to herself firmly. She wasn't some stupid little girl; she'd gotten to know that he can be really cruel if he wanted to.

"We have a Quidditch practice tomorrow, Cissa, don't forget it." Lucius reminded her. Narcissa frowned. She was one of the chasers for the Slytherin team – and she loved the game itself, but a practice on the second day of school wasn't something she would like to get.

"Tomorrow? You can't be serious. It's the 2nd of September, Lucius!"

"I know, but we _need _to win this year." He said fiercely. "I'm the new captain. I have to prove that Dumbledore made the right choice for me!"

"It was probably Slughorn who picked you up." Narcissa said, not very impressed by his emotional speech. "It's not like Dumbledore actually cares for Quidditch." She was a part of the Slytherin team since she was a third-year and she barely saw the Headmaster on any of the matches.

Lucius was a beater along with his sister Meliora; a girl in Narcissa's year. With his new position as a captain, he'd probably be determined to win, thought Cissy. She sighed as she still glanced at him every now and then. No. She had promised to herself that she won't fall for him. In the day she met him, she was sure he won't affect her like he affected on any other girl around. The young and brave Quidditch player? She wouldn't fall for that. She _couldn't _fall for that. He was too stereotypical for her – the heartbreaker of the school wouldn't be her boyfriend no matter what.

Suddenly she remembered a conversation she had five years ago with one of her current best friends, Rowena Yaxley….

"_Rowena Yaxley?" Cissy asked. The other girl grimaced._

"_I know. My mother was a Ravenclaw and… who are you looking at?"_

_The two first year girls stared at their common room – they were in the dungeons now – and then Rowena followed Narcissa's eyes. She frowned when she saw that the other girl was staring at Lucius Malfoy, standing on a few yards from them._

"_Don't tell me you already have a crush on him." Rowena begged her._

"_Of course not." Cissy blushed. "I met him on the train, but I know him since we were kids… what do you mean?"_

"_My older brother told me about him. Well, he's a second-year, but he's pretty popular around and… he's a rebel – you know, breaking the rules and stuff. You wouldn't want to get involved with this guy, trust me."_

Yes, she didn't want to get involved. But what if she really had a crush on him? What if all the rejecting last year was actually her way to stop herself from admitting that she likes him?

_No._ she reminded herself again. _Don't be an idiot. _He was her friend now; that was more than enough.

And hey, if she really was starting to fall for him, she could always pretend she didn't. There was no way she'd face it even for herself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's notes: I know that this one is sort of sadder than the others, but I just needed to write it like that – I've always liked Narcissa more than Bellatrix and… well, yeah.**

**I have honestly no idea what kind of person Cygnus Black was, but since I had a very bad feeling about Druella (the Black sisters' mother) and decided to make him the good guy. ;d And, of course, I tried to express as good as I could the usual environment in the house of the Blacks.**

**5 – Slytherins express themselves best with words.**

Narcissa felt almost as if she was carving the words in the parchment; her quill would break anytime soon. Her hands were shaking; her eyes were burning.

"Could I help, dear?"

Cissy didn't even raise her head from the paper; she could recognize the voice.

"Get out my room, Bellatrix."

The fact that she was calling her sister Bellatrix instead of just Bella showed how upset she was.

"What's your problem, Cissy?" her sister asked.

"Where is Dromeda? I need to talk to her."

Narcissa's life was a complete mess. It was the Easter break right now and she couldn't stand her family anymore. Andromeda and their father were the only people she could stay in one room with, but they weren't around very often.

"She's somewhere out with that mudblood Tonks." Bellatrix laughed wickedly. "Mom will disown her if she continues that absurd relationship."

"Then where's dad?" Cissy ignored the offence to Andromeda, mostly because Bellatrix' goal was to piss her off.

"Somewhere around. Wanna call him? I really don't have time. Rodolphus will pick me up after two minutes."

"Yes, please." Narcissa sighed. Bellatrix made it look like Narcissa was talking to her for her problems. The truth was that Bella had just invaded Cissy's room. Thanks Merlin that she was engaged to Rodolphus Lestrange. Soon Narcissa would have peace in her own home.

A minute later, Cygnus Black – her father – entered the room and saw her on the edge of tears. His blue eyes widened.

"Cissy, what happened?" he whispered. "Do you want me to… I don't know… Can your mother…"

"No!" Cissy whispered as she almost threw herself in his embrace. "I don't want to see her!"

"Alright then…" her father slowly stroked her long blond hair, obviously confused. He was her favorite relative, but that didn't necessarily mean that he knew what to do with a fifteen-years-old girl having a nervous breakdown.

"What happened?" he whispered again. "You know you can tell me."

"Mother and Bella just won't leave Dromeda alone." The girl whispered back. "What's so wrong with it? If she loves Ted, why mother wants to forbid her to see him? The most important thing is Dromeda to be happy, isn't it?"

Cygnus sighed.

"I guess that not exactly. I think it is, of course, but since I'm a Black... that's a rare thing. Most of us don't care who you'll be with, as long he's a pure-blood."

"I'm not a child. I know that." Narcissa said and sat on her bed as she stared at her father. She was the only one of the Black sisters that looked more like him than like Druella Rosier, their mother. She had his pale skin, blue eyes and light-blond hair. "But it's still ridiculous."

"I know. I'm sorry, Princess." Cissy and her father had that nickname thing for years. He liked to call her 'my little princess'. Sometimes the girl thought that this is the main reason why Bella hated her so much.

Cygnus' stare fell on the parchment on Narcissa's bureau.

"What's that?" he asked curiously. She blushed slightly and hid the papers in the drawer as fast as she could.

"Nothing." She murmured. "Just a poem or whatever…. Something I wrote."

Writing was – ever since she had learnt to write – her own way to escape from such a reality.


	6. Chapter 6

**I really enjoyed writing this one mostly because I could totally imagine Narcissa dressed up like that and I had an inspiration for writing from Lucius' POV. **

**Thanks for all the reviews, by the way, I really appreciate it!**

**6 – Slytherins have a dark, sarcastic, don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it kind of sense of humor, but it's definitely there.**

Lucius wanted to drown on purpose. No, that would be a waste of material. Better just to go to the Manor, take his mother and drown her instead.

He was on the seaside along with fifteen more lost souls from Hogwarts, who went to the "summer Muggle behavior course" – or, what was the case with most of them, including Lucius, dragged there by force.

He wasn't interested to learn how to behave like a Muggle. Not at all. But, anyway, his sisters were, so his mother forced him to go with them and take care of them.

_Come on, Lucius, stop overacting the whole situation. Some of your friends will be there too. It will be fun. You'll have a great time._

That was what she told him, trying to convince him to go, like he had a choice. Yeah, great fun, to stay two weeks with his younger sisters on the seaside _– in Spain. _He was seventeen already! He had one more year in school, yes. But that didn't mean she had to command him, did it?

On a few yards away from him, he saw Narcissa sitting on the beach, only in short jeans and a red plaid shirt. Her long blond hair was like a cloak down her back and the girl had tied it with a scarlet satin ribbon. She was reading the new _Witch Weekly_ and in her hand Lucius could see some Muggle drink the teachers had gave them. It was called _Coca-Cola_ and was as red as Cissy's nail polish. She was staring in the distance.

Meliora saw Lucius staring at her and chuckled.

"Go talk to her." She said. "I'll take care of Quinn and Urbana."

Lucius just nodded gratefully. Meliora was just a year younger than him and he trusted her. Quintessa and Urbana were twins; both 12-years-old and _really _needed someone to look after them.

"Hey, Cissa." He said when he got close to her. He smiled and sat next to her when he saw her eyes – she wasn't annoyed at him for a change. "You know, you look like one of those girls."

"Which girls?" she asked.

"Those in the Muggle magazines." Lucius smiled shyly. "The ones that are so surrealistic that they almost seem like they're just a drawing."

She just stared at him in disbelief and he could see that she was blushing now; it wasn't just face burning from the sun.

"You read Muggle magazines?" she teased him.

"Well, you have _Witch Weekly._ There is nothing for us the boys." The conversation was becoming dangerous for him, so he changed the topic. "Anyway… How did you end up here?"

Narcissa rolled her eyes.

"Well, you know, Dromeda is still at home – thanks Merlin at least Bella left the house – and I'm tired of Mother and Dromeda fighting all the time over basically everything."

"And you thought that Muggle behavior course is the best option? You could come over my place!" Lucius said before he could stop himself.

Cissa froze and then slowly turned to him.

"Sorry, what?"

"You know." He said lamely. "If you want… when we're done with this thing here… you could come at the Manor. You can sleep in Melly's room, she's your year, or we could find you a guest room…"

Narcissa kept her poker face on, but Lucius could tell what was going on – she was confused. Sleepovers weren't exactly popular with their way of life, but he could tell also that she wanted to come. Something inside him cheered up a bit. Probably, just probably this whole vacation on the seaside wouldn't be that bad with her around.

"Sure." She said slowly. "Of course. Thank you."

The smile she rewarded him with was priceless to Lucius. He was surprised by the feelings that had grown for her during the years, but repeated to himself _keep cool, keep cool, don't let her suspect anything._ He was sure that if she realized what exactly she meant to him, she would stop any contact with him immediately.

"No problem." He said. "By the way… what say you and I go for a walk? I don't think you'll find useful the vending machine speech that guy there is giving."

Cissa laughed and nodded, then took the hand he offered. He always felt somehow important to her when she laughed at his jokes – and exactly that laughter was what he appreciated most about her. He loved people that understood his sense of humor.

It was peaceful, in some way, to just walk on the seaside with her, watch the sea and the waves and feel the sand beneath his feet. The simplicity of the situation was almost unbearable; Lucius felt the need to say something, to do something, but he was afraid he'd ruin the moment.

"Well, how was your summer till now?" Cissa asked after five minutes of silence. He glanced at her, surprised. But of course, it would be fair to answer. She had already told him why she wanted to stay away from home.

"How do you expect? I'm coming from the Noble and Most Ancient House of the Lunatics, remember?" She laughed. 'The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black' was what was written on the Black family tree. "Father's been enjoying him Death Eater hobby more than ever – because, you know, he can't have a normal job or something. My mother tries to get her best from her last chance to continue with the bossing – or at least, for me. Sisters have enough years left for that."

Narcissa laughed again and even let him put his hand on her shoulders as they continued walking. _Maybe,_ Lucius thought, _This course here is not an absolute waste of time._


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: Yeah. When I said "absolutely random moments", that's exactly what I meant. The chapters don't have any order through time and this one, for example, is happening in 1996 (when Narcissa is supposed to be… 42… or something?) even though she will be a first-year in the next one. There will be chapters when they're kids. Just wanted to warn you. :D**

**As for the chapter itself… it's the one I threw most feelings in (till now) and even thought it's less funny than the others (I alone almost cried while I was writing it), it's one of my favorite ones too. **

**7 – When a Slytherin cries, it's probably from stress, not sadness.**

Narcissa shivered when she entered the prison and walked straight to the bureau of the security wizard at the entrance.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" he asked as he tried to look – and sound – more awake than he actually was.

"I want to see my husband." She said as she got closer to him. He eyed her suspiciously.

"What's your name?"

"Narcissa Malfoy."

She could see the fear in his eyes when she said her name; she wasn't sure if he feared her for her influence or for the determined look in his eyes, but she wasn't complaining anyway. She wanted to look like a woman who won't give up no matter what.

"Aah… Mr. Malfoy is a bit of a special case, I guess. He's one of the people that got caught in the Ministry two months ago, ma'am… We're instructed not to let anyone visit them… " The security man tried to avoid her death glare, but failed. "I'm really sorry, Mrs.… But I don't think I can do anything…"

"I'm sure you can." Narcissa whispered desperately. "Please. You don't understand. I _have _to see him. I can give you whatever you want…"

The man sighed and stared at her. She could see that he still can't decide whether to trust her or not.

"Go!" he hissed finally. "Hurry up and… don't let the dementors see you or I'll lose my job!"

"Thank you." Narcissa whispered and took off one of the rings on her hand. It was golden, with a huge ruby on it. She gave it to the stunned wizard and smiled in appreciation. "Take this as a gift. As a… sign of my gratefulness."

Without waiting to see him react, she ran down the corridor, impatiently looking at the cells, trying to find the one she was searching for.

And suddenly, she saw him.

He was sitting on his bed; his grown blond hair was now falling down his shoulders. He didn't hear her when she quietly opened the door.

"Lucius…" Narcissa whispered, not sure what to say.

He raised his head sharply at the sound of her voice and she gasped when she saw his face.

He was obviously even thinner than before; that made his features look even more pointed. He stared at her with disbelief in his silver eyes, then slowly stood up.

"Cissa?" he murmured as if he saw her for the first time. She felt tears burning in her eyes but tried to defeat them. _Don't cry, don't cry, _Cissy repeated to herself. She was here for him. She had to be strong.

"Yes." She whispered. "It's me."

"Cissa." He repeated and took her in his embrace. She could feel him shiver as his forehead touched hers. "You're here."

And then he kissed her; Narcissa couldn't remember him kissing her with such passion before. "Cissa…" he whispered again between the kisses and she could feel his desperation as he stared deep in her eyes.

"You don't know… you can't even imagine… I'm lost here, Cissa." He said; the fear in his eyes oddly reminded her of the fear of a child that is afraid to be left alone at night. "There are days when I don't remember anything… I don't even remember my own name, I don't know who I am…"

"It's alright." Narcissa whispered as she slowly stroked his hair. "I'm here now. It's all going to be alright."

"Where's Draco?" Lucius asked as he looked around them, then took her hand and made her sit next to him on his bed. "I miss him too…"

"He… he's at school." Narcissa said. She had to fight her tears again.

"Oh." He murmured. "Is it September already? I thought it was earlier…"

"Yes." she said. Her voice was croaky now. She couldn't stand lying to him any longer. "He departed for school yesterday."

That wasn't the truth, of course; it was still the middle of August. But she couldn't tell him the real reason why his son wasn't here either. She knew that he wouldn't be able to bear the fact that Draco was a Death Eater now. Lucius wouldn't blame her, of course. He knew what was happening well enough to know that she wouldn't be able to stop it from happening.

"Pity." He whispered, both of his arms still around her. "I wanted to see him before he departs…"

And before Narcissa could stop herself, she was already crying, the tears she was holding finally fell off her eyes as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"Lucius…" she was unable to say anything but his name. She knew it was so unfair to cry when he was the one stuck here, but she couldn't help it. "Please…"

He didn't asked what she wanted him to do; he understood, just like he always did. He held her tight in his embrace.

"Don't worry, Cissa." He said as he kissed her again, but this time Narcissa could see tears in his eyes too and she knew that this desperate kiss contained all he wanted to say to her when he couldn't find the words for it. It was hard to admit it, but she actually cherished those tears.

They meant that he's still alive.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note: OK, I know that the wand in the walking stick (or whatever it was) in the movie, was an idea by Jason Isaacs (the guy that plays Lucius), but it inspired me for this little thingy his wand has here.**

**8 – Slytherins are likely the most stubborn, persistent type of people.**

Lucius was pretty annoyed at the two girls having an argument right in front of the door of his compartment. The door was closed, but he still could hear every word of it.

"I'm a prefect now!"

"And so what? I'm not staying with the first years either, Bella!"

"Well then, just leave her here or something, but I really have work to do!"

"Don't pretend you really have so many duties, you know that the fifth-years prefects do almost nothing anyway…"

"Just because you have three more years before you could even have the opportunity to be a prefect, Dromeda, doesn't mean you have to be jealous…"

"I told you already, Bella, I want to meet my friends too! And plus, I hate Slytherins and you know it! This compartment is full of them!"

"Relax, girls."

The voice was new to Lucius, even though it was familiar. He had heard it somewhere before.

As for the other two, he knew Andromeda and Bellatrix Black – Dromeda was a Gryffindor and he wasn't actually a friend with her, but he knew Bella pretty well.

"I can do it myself. Just go where you have to and don't worry for me." The familiar voice spoke again. Someone sighed.

"Alright, Cissy, but be careful, OK? And call me if something happens." Andromeda said softly. Lucius heard the two older girls continued their argument somewhere else as the door opened.

The girl that entered the compartment was slim, tall and – obviously – a first-year. Although she seemed anxious, she raised her head and stepped in like a princess or even a queen. Her long blond hair was tied back with a black satin bow; her blue eyes were glancing around nervously.

"You can sit here." Said Lucius and smiled to her. Jacob Nott glared at him.

"Well, there's a free seat here too. Sean'll move." The other boy said and made a gesture to the place next to him, currently occupied by a black-haired second-year Slytherin.

"No, I won't." protested Sean Parkinson. He either didn't get the idea or just really didn't want to stand up because of some girl he didn't even know.

The only two other girls in the compartment - Alexis Bullstrode and Annette Zabini – just looked rather amused at the scene and chuckled mockingly.

After a moment of hesitation, the blonde sat next to Lucius, who rewarded her with a huge smile.

"Hello." He said and kissed the fingertips of her left hand as he was taught to do since he was a child. "I'm Lucius Malfoy. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Narcissa Black." The girl said. "Nice to meet you too."

"Excuse me, but have I seen you before?" Lucius asked. "You look really familiar."

"I visited your Manor with my sisters two years ago." She said. But before he could answer, she stared at his wand and the small metal ornaments all over it. When she looked closely, Narcissa probably realized that it was like a web; protecting the wand from being broken.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at the wand. "Was it like that when you got it?"

"No, of course. The snakes are a Malfoy family heirloom." Lucius answered proudly.

"Snakes?" the girl asked, confused. He nodded.

"Yes, those little lines are actually silver snakes and they're put together. Look at that." He took his wand out of the protector and, indeed, the thing was in one piece.

"Can I take it for a while?" Narcissa asked. Lucius snorted.

"No."

"Oh, come on, what can I do to it? I just want to see it!" she said and tried to take the wand once more, but Lucius took it out of her reach, shaking his head.

"No way. I'm sorry. It's mine and you don't get to get a hold of it." He said firmly. There wasn't a way to make him give it. It was his and his only. After his father broke his last wand, he gave it to him. Of course, Abraxas bought a new wand after that, but the protector could work with only one wand per wizard.

In the meantime, Narcissa was still insisting to get a closer look of it.

"Give it now, or else!"

"Or what?"

"Or I won't talk to you anymore."

"Like I care."

Without saying a word, Narcissa stood up and sat between Nott and Parkinson. Lucius glared at Sean. _Oh, a minute ago you wouldn't move for Nott, but just because she wanted you to now…_

Lucius stared at the window, refusing to look back at the girl. Finally, with a sigh, he said.

"OK, come over."

"What?"

"I said, come over. You can see it."

Narcissa smiled at him and immediately returned to her original place. She reached for the wand, but Lucius grinned at her.

"No. You won't get it anyway. But you can touch it."

Without letting the wand slip out if his hands, he allowed Narcissa to examine the miniature snakes on the protector. She smiled.

"It's nice. Really beautiful." She said.

"Thank you." Lucius answered and put it back in his pocket.

He smirked. In some way, he had won both – the argument and her sympathy.


	9. Chapter 9

**Yep, another piece from Lucius' POV. I just needed him for this one, but I promise that in the next one Cissy will be the narrator. **

**9 – Slytherins are surprisingly emotional about many things.**

Lucius' eyes widened when Narcissa just collapsed on the floor and let out a quiet cry. It had happened suddenly; just a second ago she was sitting in her chair, drinking her tea and laughing at something he had said. And now, suddenly, she seemed to be on the point of unconsciousness. He knew how overdramatic she can be about almost anything, and he was aware that pregnant women changed their behavior all the time, but that was just too much.

"Cissa?' he whispered and crawled next to her, trying to touch her face. She closed her eyes in pain. Her grip around her belly tightened as she cried again. "Cissa! What's going on?"

It was early, too early for that. She couldn't be possibly giving a birth! They said 15th June! And that was ten days from now!

"What… do you think is going on… genius?" she panted. "Go… take my healers…"

"I'm not leaving you alone here!" Lucius said firmly. Narcissa trembled again. _Don't panic, Lucius, just don't panic, she'll be OK, just stay calm… _

"And what the hell do I need you here for, Lucius?" she yelled at him. "Go get my healers from St. Mungo's now, before I'm in actual danger!"

Lucius didn't hesitate again. Instead, he ran down the stairs and Apparated as soon as he was out of the Manor and its protecting charms.

He ran into the hospital and almost threw himself over the witch on the reception.

"I need… I need Healers... Winchester and Johnson… My wife…"

"Sir, please, calm down." The witch said and smiled gently at him. "I'll find your healers… Is your wife giving a birth?"

He nodded. The woman ran out of her place. He probably looked really shocked and scared and only Merlin knows what more, because she put her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him again. "Don't worry, sir, I'll be here after a minute."

Five minutes later, Lucius along with the two healers were already in the Manor again.

"Where is she?" asked the older one. He had white hair and warm brown eyes, which made Lucius trust him somehow.

"In the dining room. And hurry up, she was in pain…"

"Don't worry, sir." The younger one smiled mockingly. "She'll be fine. Don't kill us."

"Don't tempt me..." Lucius started and the older healer laughed.

"Come on, Mark. I don't want you dead. Or at least, not today."

Lucius ran up the stairs with them and kneeled next to Narcissa again. He touched her hair.

"Cissa… Cissa, I brought help…"

"Finally." She smiled at him. He frowned as he looked at her. Her face was covered in a thin layer of sweat.

"Does it hurt?" he asked. She managed to smile slightly at him and gently caressed his face.

"Don't worry, Lucius. I'll be OK."

Soon the healers took her out of his reach and got her to their bedroom on the second floor.

"You'll have to wait outside, sir." The older healer said apologetically. "I swear we'll do our best. We've did this thousands of times before. Your wife will give birth to a strong and healthy child. Just stay here and relax."

It was easy to say, but once everyone – except _him_, of course – disappeared in the room, Lucius had nothing to do but just pace in front of the door in panic and try to hear something from the inside. He snorted nervously and went down the stairs, back in the dining room, and opened a bottle of Firewhiskey. It would help him relax. At least drinking was something to do and he was about to get crazy. He couldn't not notice that the glass in his hand trembled a bit as he was filling it. Yep. He needed to stay calm if he didn't want a heart attack before the whole thing was done.

About an eternity later (even though the clock was telling him that it was just hour and a half), Lucius heard the Healer calling him from the second floor. He ran up the stairs and opened the door of their bedroom, almost afraid from what he was going to see.

Narcissa was laying on the bed and she was smiling at something very, very small in her hands, covered in a towel. She seemed… well. Exhausted and tired, for sure, but still well.

"It's a boy." The younger healer said, smiling at him encouragingly. His eyes said what Lucius needed to hear. _Come closer and see it._

Lucius took a deep breath and gently sat on the bed next to his wife.

"I'm not… When I'm here… I'm not causing you pain, am I, Cissa?" he asked quietly.

She laughed and he exhaled – he had unwittingly held his breath.

"I'm _fine_, Lucius. Look at him."

Lucius carefully took the baby out of her hands and gasped when he realized how small it actually was. He curiously removed the towel of the place where the baby's face was supposed to be and…

He couldn't believe it. It was basically, _him. _The weirdest feeling in the world. Probably if he could go back in time and see how he was born, he'd see exactly the same pointed features, big grey eyes and platinum blond hair.

"He has your hair." Lucius whispered. Cissa smiled at him.

"We have the same hair color, Lucius." She reminded him.

"No, look at him. It's exactly the same as yours. Mine is not that perfectly straight."

The man tried to fight with the stupid tears burning in his eyes. He couldn't cry. He wasn't supposed to cry. That was natural; he had always known that he will have children some day. But somehow, this was the most surreal thing he had ever seen.

"Are you _crying,_ Lucius?" Narcissa teased him, bursting a tear that had slipped from his eyes and had ran down his cheek.

"No." he said croakily. "Of course not." But he felt a huge smile curling his lips as he still stared at the newborn.

"How are you going to name him, Ma'am? His whole name, please." asked the younger healer with some notepad in his hands. She didn't hesitate even for a second.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy."

The man stared at her for an instant, probably not sure how exactly to react, but then shrugged and wrote the name down.

"Draco Lucius?" asked Lucius in a low voice. Cissa grinned at him.

"Don't you like it?" she asked. She didn't seem worried though.

"Of course I do. But… why?" Lucius asked, unable to express his confusion better.

She laughed softly.

"Draco because itmeans dragon in Latin. It's a powerful creature and a powerful name, and it's also a constellation – that continues an old tradition in my family. Lucius because of seemingly obvious matters."

"But you could name him after his father too." Lucius pointed out. "Not that I complain, of course." He hurried to add.

"I adore my father, but even he will admit that Draco Cygnus Malfoy is an awful name." Narcissa laughed again and this time Lucius smiled too. He was actually so happy that he almost couldn't bear it.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Cissa asked gently as she took the baby again. Probably she thought that the almost confused expression he wore was due to some problem she couldn't see. But the truth was that Lucius hadn't any words for how blissful he felt right now.

He just locked his eyes with hers and smiled again, even though he had to fight his tears again – still tears from joy and nothing else.

"Nothing's wrong." He said and embraced her and closed his eyes. "Nothing can be wrong right now."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's notes: Ahem. Yeah. I know that I spent too many words on her dress and on her appearance in general and that her outfit wasn't supposed to be in the highlight, but I just couldn't make it stop. So here's another chapter for you, this time somewhat longer…**

**10 – Slytherins like to push the limits and see how much they can get away with. **

"Bella, this is ridiculous. I look terrible." Narcissa said at the sight of herself in a blood red dress that had the biggest cleavage she had ever seen. She almost felt ashamed, as if it was her idea, not her sister's one.

"No you don't." Bellatrix sang in her ear as she kept walking in circles around her. "You're just way too thin." She said, clicking with her tongue. "Yeah. If you gain a pound or two, it would suit perfectly."

Narcissa took a deep breath as she stared at herself in the mirror and sighed desperately as she took of the dress and dressed herself in the Muggle clothes they used to pass through London. She loved shopping so much and now her own sister would make her start to hate it.

The dress was beautiful, that was true. But it just wasn't made for her. Something like that was made for Bella or for their mother – a.k.a. for a witch with a great body who's not afraid to show it, someone who could shine in it. Not for Narcissa, who was thin, pale and blonde and almost colorless and who was so flat that it almost seemed impossible.

"And how am I supposed to 'gain a pound or two' for two days, Bella?" she asked tiredly. "And plus, who said I want to? I like myself as I am now!"

"Ciss, this dress is per-fect for you, do you understand? It's my engagement party after all! You should do what I tell!" Bella said, ignoring Narcissa's glare. "Don't look at me like that. Had somebody ever told you that your clothes taste is horrible?"

"Dromeda liked it." Cissy pointed out. Bellatrix snorted.

It was indeed Bella's engagement party they were shopping for. Her engagement to Rodolphus Lestrange. He had finally proposed her and she was so happy that she thought she could boss around every chance she got.

"Sure. That's not a compliment you know. If Dromeda likes it, that means that you look like if you're homeless."

"Thank you very much."

"You're welcome."

"Bella!" Narcissa exclaimed. "I can't wear this thing! It's too big for me and I resemble a five-years-old that took her mother's clothes!"

The girl frowned when she saw the determined look in her sister's eyes. Nice. That look never meant anything good.

"I'll make you look like a goddess in that dress, Cissy, even if it costs my life!" she swore and before Narcissa could protest in any way, Bella took the dress off the floor – where Cissy had thrown it – and bought it.

* * *

"_OK, you can do this thing. Just look at yourself; the mirror's right behind you… She's not _that_ evil, is she? She probably made you look at least acceptable…"_

Determined to see the results – even if they were horrible – Narcissa opened her eyes and stared at her reflection. She had left Bella do whatever she wanted – buy the dress, do her make-up and her hair, and her manicure and even pick up shoes for her. She had given up on the free will thing, at least for tonight. When Bellatrix Black wanted to do something, she would do it and Cissa knew that there's no point in disagreeing.

But when she saw her reflection, she gasped in shock.

It wasn't bad. Not at all.

It was actually a great, almost blinding sea of scarlet and sky blue. The first one was the color of the dress and the other one – the color of her eyes.

Her hair was formed on big, perfect blond curls and was held up with a big blue hairclip that had some red gems on it – rubies, Narcissa suspected. Her nails were painted with blue flames, in the middle of which she could see little fire-like red flowers.

The make up was what shocked her the most. Around her eyes, there were scarlet eye shadows that reached her eyebrows and, starting from the end of her eyes, went almost to her hair, tangled with some other ornaments in sapphire blue. That made her look like a phoenix, or at least that's what Cissy thought as she examined it closely and realized that it's letting out a faint gleam, just like real flames – that was the scarlet. The blue part of it reminded her of a river – it looked so alive...

Her shoes had extremely high heels; or at least too high that she had ever wore before – maybe 4 inches or so. That made her look even taller than she was and it was a positive change. The shoes themselves, of course, were in scarlet too.

And, probably the most important of it all – she looked older than she was. Nobody could tell that she's a seventeen-years-old girl. She looked like she was at least 20.

"Fire and water." She heard Bella's voice from the door and almost jumped.

"What?"

"Fire and water." Bellatrix repeated, entering the room. "That was the idea of this whole thing. So? Do you like it?" she asked excitedly. Narcissa smiled.

"Of course!" she answered honestly. "It's wonderful!"

Bella just smiled at her.

"Told you!" she said and left the room. Narcissa rolled her eyes. Her sister always had to point out how perfectly right she is.

* * *

Cissy frowned as she entered the biggest Hall in the whole Black mansion. There were way too many people here. She started to look up for her family, when suddenly someone stopped right before her with the speed of a small hurricane.

"Cissa!" Lucius exclaimed and smiled at her. "You look… I'm not sure I have the words to describe it."

"I look like some really, really weird bird." She pointed out quietly. Lucius laughed. He seemed somehow too cheerful today; his cold silver eyes were sparkling in excitement. She could tell he was happy to see her too.

"It's not true and you know it. You look amazing." He kissed her cheek gently; that was the closest thing to actual appetence they could show in public party like that.

"Thank you." She smiled at him and took the hand he offered to her.

"Dance with me?" he asked. She nodded as he leaded her to the dance floor.

Narcissa was aware of how many eyes were staring at them right now and she barely even spoke to Lucius as he was leading her in the dance.

"How you've been lately?" she asked anyway, still smiling at him. The song was almost over and she could see that – like any other boy she had danced with – got a bit bored from only dancing and not even a conversation that supports the dance.

"Nice. My father thinks that I already have to do something… you know, something with my life."

"But we just finished school!" Cissy said, amazed. "You're already of age, yes, but my parents won't make me… work or something like that." She could hear the disgust in her own voice. Nobody had ever made her work even for a single day in her life – except that one time when her mother decided to punish her for something and sent her to help her father in his bookstore. Not that it was _that _bad, but maybe she liked it only because she loved her father – and the books surrounding her from everywhere.

"Your parents will never make you find a job." Lucius laughed quietly. "Like any girl from families like ours will ever _work. _You're just supposed to find a rich husband who'll do everything for you."

"Sure." She chuckled. "I'm sure that Mother is pretty impatient for that moment."

"Your sister is 21." He pointed out, staring at Bellatrix, who was gleaming at them, sitting next to Rodolphus. She looked beautiful in her black leather dress and with her black silky curls falling down her back. _Typical princess of the darkness_, Narcissa thought. That was exactly the image of her sister. "And your mother obviously thinks it's perfectly fine for her to be engaged now."

"Yes, but she loves Bella. She still thinks that her plan for Dromeda will work, look at them." Narcissa nodded in the direction where her mother was holding Andromeda in her tight grip and introduced her to Tony Rosier.

"Andromeda and Rosier?" Lucius laughed in disbelief. "No way. I don't see her being someone's trophy wife – and that's exactly what he's searching for. She's 18 now, just like me, right?"

"Yep." Narcissa answered. "And you're right, of course. I don't know why Mother's even trying. Dromeda even has a boyfriend, but that's another matter."

"Come with me." Lucius whispered suddenly in her ear.

"What?" she whispered back as he dragged her away from the dance floor. The song was already over. "Just one more… come on, Lucius…"

"No, I hate dancing." He said, his lips still curled in a smile.

"Where are we going anyway?" she asked when he leaded her out of the hall.

"You tell me." He answered as he stopped and stared in her eyes as if what he was saying to her would save his life. "I want us to go somewhere… calm. Some place that is not that stupid party."

"But… OK, OK." Narcissa nodded curtly as Lucius smiled as charmingly as he could. "Here… come…"

The truth was that she understood him. She knew that in there, her mother is following their every move. She would ruin everything in their fragile, yet wonderful relationship with her weird ideas for the future. What Narcissa thought about it all was that they were still young enough and they had all the time on the world to be who they are for at least a year more.

"Lucius…" she started, still hesitating when she leaded him on their way in the basements.

"What is it?"

"We're breaking all the rules of my mother's rules right now. _Lumos._" She whispered and her wand lighted the staircase before them. "We're so not supposed to be here…"

"If you remember it from school, I'm well known for not caring about anyone's rules." Lucius grinned. "And why they would forbid you to come here?"

"Well, we're in the basements right now, obviously… But it's also used as a dungeon."

"Oh, yeah. We have one at home also. It's lovely."

"I'm sure it is." Narcissa laughed and watched him sitting on the floor – just like that. There were no chairs here.

"You can sit down you know." He pointed out. She grimaced.

"But my dress…"

"Really, Cissa?" he murmured. "Seriously?"

"It's so beautiful." She said, trying to defend herself as she attempted to hide her face behind the big blond curls. She didn't want him to see that she had blushed. "And stop calling me like that."

"Why?" Lucius asked curiously and reached for her hand. "Come on. If you're so afraid for the dress, you can sit in my lap."

Cissy hesitated again. A real lady wouldn't sit in his lap just like that. _But a real lady_, she thought, _won't wander in the dungeons when she's supposed to be on the party in the hall, dancing and laughing with her friends._ After a second thought, she took his arm and let him hug her and wrap his arms around her.

"Because… no one else calls me like that." She answered to his previous question. "Everyone else calls me Cissy. Or Narcissa. Or even Ciss. But not Cissa. Not that I don't like it. It's just some kind of a… personal thing. To have a nickname that only you use for me."

"Oh?" Lucius murmured. "Tell me something, Cissa. Why are you so nervous every time you're around me? You are so beautiful that it's almost unreal, by the way… I can't believe how unsure of yourself you are." He said with a slight smile. "I won't hurt you, you know that. I'd never… make you do something you…"

"No!" she almost shouted, her cheeks burning now. "No, I'm not afraid of… _that. _I know you won't hurt me. I'm just… not sure what I feel for you. If it's real or it's just because… because you're… pureblood and everything else…"

"I can speak only for myself, of course." Lucius interrupted her hysterical speech, and she was grateful for that. "But for me… it has nothing to do with the pureblood stuff, Cissa. I love you."

Narcissa almost froze in his hands. He said it so confidently, he was so sure of himself that it was obvious that he actually felt it. It wasn't just something he said to charm her; she could see the look in his eyes when she turned back at him in amazement. His silver eyes were telling her exactly what his mount just did.

That wasn't right; she knew it. She hadn't to say this to anyone, not if she wasn't married or at least engaged to him. She was supposed to blush and run away now, because the lady she was taught to be would do exactly that.

_We're actually breaking everyone's rules tonight, _she thought, but she felt like there was nothing wrong with that. She smiled at him.

"I love you too, Lucius."


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's notes: One word: exams. Tons of them.**

**It's almost the end of the school year already and everyone's like crazy lately, including me, so I have less time for my fics. That makes me truly unhappy, but unfortunately, if I want to get access to the computer for the whole summer, I'll need to get some good grades now.**

**Anyway, I hope you like the new chapter and, as always, reviews are welcome.**

**11 – Slytherins hate being underestimated/patronized.**

"Thank you, mom, but I think I can do it myself."

"No, Lucius, you can't." Abril said firmly when her son tried to run away from her hands. She buttoned his cloak. "I told you already; we have important guests today and I want you to look representative and to behave like you are supposed to… there will be three really special girls with our guests."

Lucius sighed. Girls. Three girls in his house and he was probably supposed to entertain them while the mothers were having some tea and the fathers were talking about… well, what they were usually talking about. Who knew what it actually was?

"Should I really…"

"Yes."

"Fine." Lucius groaned when he heard his father opening the door for the guests in the yard and ran down the stairs, trying to look as _representative _as he could.

In the same moment, the Black family was entering the front door. He could see Druella and Cygnus Black – the woman had long, black curly hair and the man was tall and blond.

After that, through the door came three young girls – making more noise than he had ever heard before in the Manor, where only his mother, his father and he lived.

They were completely different from each other. The first one seemed around his age and had long curly brown hair and warm brown eyes. She was tall, just like her sister – even though the other girl was probably younger. The younger one was a blonde with piercing blue eyes and pale skin. The last one seemed like the elder one; she had almost black eyes and curly black hair.

They jumped all around their parents, laughing and running with wide smiles on their faces, until their mother hissed something to them and they froze.

"Hello, Abraxas, Abril." Druella smiled and nodded with a slight smile. Cygnus Black, who was currently talking to his daughters, glanced distractedly at the Malfoys and smiled too. "I assume you know my husband; and these are our daughters…"

"Lucius, come here." His mother said gently. Lucius grimaced. He wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to get close to those energetic, noisy and laughing-all-the-time creatures, but it seemed as if he hadn't a choice.

"That's Bellatrix." Druella said. The oldest one grinned at him – she was probably a first-year, Lucius thought as he noticed the wand in her hand. "This is Andromeda…" the brown haired girl waved and continued to stare at the Manor behind him. "And this is Narcissa." The youngest of the Black sisters smiled shyly at him and came closer, shaking his hand. "But you can call me Cissy." She said with a smile. "Narcissa's way too complicated."

Lucius blushed. In his eight-years-old life he had never met girls like these. Most of the girls around his age actually were just sitting somewhere quietly and not saying a word. The Black sisters were much more forward, honest, like if everything they wanted to say was actually written on their faces. They looked like most of the girls in their society – long formal dresses, perfect hairstyles, clean shoes and gleaming faces. But he smiled in return as they investigated him curiously – probably he wouldn't be that bored after all. He could show them the Manor.

"So, Lucius, will you give the girls the grand tour?" his mother asked with a patronizing smile, that literally said "you know you will anyway".

"Of course." He said and smiled to the sisters once more. "They will stay here, won't they? For how long?" he asked.

"Two days." Druella Black said. "We're leaving tomorrow. I get so little time with my cousin." The woman smiled to his mother.

"Is your mother a Rosier too?" Andromeda asked, looking at Lucius as they entered the Manor. He nodded. "Ugh. That's just sick."

"What's sick?" Narcissa asked, confused. Bellatrix rolled her eyes.

"Always so naïve, Cissy. One day one of us will be… well, there's no more delicate way to say it but…"

"_Shut up_, Bella." Dromeda said firmly. Lucius blushed slightly again. They were cousins too, of course, and he supposed that one day, he would be engaged to one of them.

"Well, let me show you your rooms." He said, desperately trying to change the topic as the girls started giggling and chuckling behind his back again. They were annoying him already.

"What?" Narcissa said, stopping in the middle of the corridor. Her sisters stopped dead too. Lucius raised his eyebrows. _Can they actually walk separated?_, he thought. "No way I'm going to stay in my room _again."_

"Exactly." Andromeda said with a stiff nod. "You said you're giving us the grand tour. And so are you."

Lucius shivered. These girls kind of scared him when the three of them were glaring at him.

"Alright, alright." He said, trying to look as dominant as he could in his eight-years-old pride. He wasn't about to give up just because three _girls _made him. "Here's the plan. You're going to your rooms now and we'll sneak out at night when our parents are sleeping?"

"And why for Merlin's sake would we do that if we can just do it now?" Narcissa asked skeptically. Bellatrix glanced at her sister and then stared questioningly at him too. Lucius sighed in desperation. Obviously, he and Andromeda were the only ones here who got the idea. "Because it will be _fun!_" he said. Andromeda didn't seem to like him very much, but she nodded to his words and stared at her sisters with a smile.

"Oh, come on, girls, he's right."

The other two girls exchanged a look and then Narcissa nodded.

"Fine, then. Meet you all in the garden at midnight."

"Be quiet!" Lucius hissed. The girls were way too noisy for a sneaking outside at night. "Oh Merlin, if we all get caught it's your fault."

"Well it wasn't _our _idea." Someone said behind him. He wasn't sure if it was Narcissa or Bellatrix, so he glared at them both and grimaced. Narcissa squinted and he gave up the staring competition. He couldn't win when someone with so blue eyes was looking at him like that. It was like she was staring in his soul.

Andromeda liked the forest in the garden, though. Lucius could see her curiously investigating the trees, the night flowers, the animals and the birds around them.

"But what if we get lost?" Narcissa wondered out loud. Lucius rolled his eyes. Oh how he hated someone underestimate him about no matter what.

"That's my house, _Cissy, _remember?" he said. "I won't get lost in my own garden."

"Well, _Lucy, _I hope so." She murmured.

"What did you just call me?"

"Have a problem with it?"

"Oh why don't you just shut it, Black!"

"And why don't you try and _make me_, Malfoy!"

"Shut up, everyone!"

It was Andromeda that said it. Lucius and Narcissa were too caught up in their argument to notice that they had increased their voices too much and Bellatrix was just staring at them both like if she was about to go and get some popcorn.

Now three of them looked at the brown-haired girl, confused.

"Can't you stop shouting? We'll get caught!" she said. "And Bella, you're supposed to be the smart one here, control those immature idiots! You're older than us, act like it! Damnit. Why it always has to be me to control everything!"

"Yes, mother." Bellatrix murmured and glared at her sister. "Stop acting like we're some children! I'm three years older than you!"

"Well that's the point, Bella!" Andromeda said, obviously pissed off. "I seriously have no idea why you and Cissy agreed to this, the stupid brats you are, you can't even enter a forest without whining about it for a week…"

"Now who's shouting?" Lucius asked. "Stop finding each other flaws, the three of you." He murmured as he started his way back to Malfoy Manor through the forest. "I can't believe it. You all think you're perfect…"

In fact, Lucius had quite liked the Black sisters – they were funny and they brought some sort of… well, life, with themselves in the Manor.

But he would never, ever forgive Narcissa for calling him Lucy.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's notes: So here it is. The chapter I was waiting for. The wedding. It took me longer than expected, but now I'm pretty satisfied with it… I know that the wedding vows aren't a big deal – and they were supposed to be – but however, it was what seemed right to write and… yeah.**

**I wasn't sure from who's POV to write it, so here goes the first (and probably the last) chapter from Andromeda's POV. Hope you enjoy and thanks for the reviews, everyone! :)**

**12 – Slytherins aren't quick to make a connection romantically, but once it's there, they can be blind to everything else.**

"She threw her shoe at me! _She actually threw her shoe at me!_"

Andromeda chuckled soundlessly when she saw her soon-to-be brother-in-law running out from Narcissa's dressing room. He, indeed, was followed by a white high heeled shoe, typical for a bride and a scream she couldn't quite understand.

"Calm down before I throw something at you too." She murmured. Lucius frowned at her.

"Why did you even come here? I couldn't get it – why she invited you? Stupid blood-trai—"

"Listen to me carefully now, Malfoy." Andromeda said. Lucius' eyes widened in surprise when she grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him closer so she could whisper right in his ear. "Listen to me really, really carefully. Cissy is my sister. And I don't trust you. If you hurt her in any way – no matter mentally or psychically – I'll make sure you'll regret for it for the rest of your life, got it?"

"You have no idea how much I love her, do you?" Lucius hissed. "Our parents think that the marriage is something they arranged. But it's not. I love her since… you can't even imagine for how long. I won't hurt her. I'll do everything to protect her; I'll give her everything she wants to make her happy. I swear in my life."

Andromeda stared suspiciously at him for a second more and then let him go.

"I still don't trust you." She whispered. "Nor I can see what she sees in you. But… Ok. Ok. As Long as she's safe and happy… _But_, I'm watching you. Don't forget it."

He nodded and left when he heard his father calling for him in the garden.

Andromeda sighed and entered Cissy's dressing room.

The future bride stared at her reflection and looked as if she was Stunned – her eyes were wide open and she wasn't moving even a muscle.

"Err, Cissy? Are you…. Is everything alright?"

Her sister nodded. "I'm just checking everything for the last time. I want to be absolutely perfect today." Andromeda sighed in relief. So she was just assuring herself.

"You know that you always look beautiful, Cissy." Andromeda said gently and smiled. "Even though I still can't get it. Why…. Why _him_, Ciss?" she just couldn't stop herself from asking.

Cissy beamed at her; her eyes were sparkling happily.

"I'm pregnant, Dromeda." She whispered shakily. "I'm finally pregnant."

"_Finally?_ Narcissa, are you trying to tell me… for how long you were trying to…" Andromeda couldn't even form a normal question, but her sister understood.

"For a year. Since we got engaged." Her sister said and sat on the bed behind her. "But it was for nothing. I couldn't get pregnant… I was getting desperate that I'll never succeed… until a month ago, when I realized it and…. Well, I was so happy…"

"Cissy, you could have had anyone!" Andromeda almost shouted in desperation. "_Come on! _You didn't just tell me that for a year you were trying to get pregnant – and you chose _Malfoy_ to be the father of your heir…"

"Dromeda." Cissy said sharply, staring at her sister, looking rather hurt. "I thought…" her blue blues started to fill with tears; her lower lip started trembling. "I thought that you'd be _happy _for me… Even more since you already have your daughter yourself…"

"I'm really happy for you." Her sister assured her. _Don't let her cry, don't let her cry._ "I couldn't be happier. But he's just… not the right man, Cissy."

"He's not the right man for _you_, Dromeda." Narcissa said with a gentle smile. "But he's just perfect for me and you know it."

Andromeda had to admit that they were indeed a flawless couple. Lucius and Narcissa's relationship was a constant struggle for dominance and even though she couldn't understand it entirely, they obviously adored each other.

"The ceremony is starting!" Narcissa exclaimed and looked down through the window. "Oh Lord…"

In the garden, the wizard that everyone called for such events announced the names of their parents and then the ones of Mrs. and Mr. Malfoy.

"I'll go down there." Andromeda said. "Poor Ted is probably lost without me in this place…"

The truth was that he insisted to come. Andromeda had no idea why. He probably wanted to see what as wizards' wedding will be like – their one was a lot like a Muggle one because of his parents.

Andromeda hadn't the heart to tell him what bunch of snobs are her relatives, so she just agreed to take him with her.

"Yes, you better go." Cissy said, a little breathlessly. "I'll… I'll be fine."

Andromeda left her and sat on her place down with her husband, who was holding the little Nymphadora right now. She had wittingly chosen a table really far from her family and her sister along with her son-in-law. She didn't want any fights today. This was Cissy's night, and no matter how wrong her choice was – in Dromeda's opinion – no one had the right to ruin it.

The woman noticed Cygnus Black, her father, to slip away from the place and to run up the stairs to the Manor. Her hand started racing a bit. So it would be soon.

The officiant announced the names of Rowena Yaxley and Rabastan Lestrange as the bridesmaid and the best man… Lucius Malfoy appeared and stood under the arch of flowers, waiting…

Suddenly everyone turned to the entrance of the tent (Andromeda knew that Cissy preferred the wedding without the tent, but there was a possibility of rain and nobody wanted to risk). Most of the people had the expression of someone in a church, praying before their gods. And she could see why.

In the five last minutes Narcissa had probably pulled herself together, because now she looked confident, noble and beautiful, just as any other time. The simple white dress was fitting her perfectly. She hadn't a veil; her hair was formed on small soft ringlets with small flowers and – just as any other day – her trademark satin ribbon, today in white. There was a simple necklace on her neck and matching earrings, silver, white gold or platinum – Dromeda couldn't tell from this far.

But she could tell that Cissy had chosen the dress by herself. If it were Druella or Bellatrix, they would choose something much more pompous and revealing. Narcissa's dress was simple yet fascinating, just like her whole appearance. _And that was the idea_, Andromeda thought. Her natural beauty was obvious like that.

Her sister was smiling nervously to everyone, still holding their father's arm and then beamed at Lucius, who was still waiting under the arch of flowers.

He wasn't looking that bad himself, Andromeda had to admit. His long blond hair was put in a low ponytail, his dress robes were grey with some ornaments, amongst which Andromeda recognized the Malfoy family crest.

Soon Narcissa made her way to her fiancé and silence fell in the garden.

"Have you prepared your wedding vows?" asked the wizard. They both nodded. Lucius took a deep breath.

"I swear to be next to you, no matter in sorrow or in happiness, and to cherish every second with you. I'll share with you my life, for you have always been a part of it, I'll give my life for you if you're in danger. I swear that you'll always come first for me and I'll never betray you and I'll honor you as my equal."

Even Andromeda, who had a pretty skeptical look over this, was impressed. These words really meant everything when he said them; probably because in the war they were, someday he would actually have to choose between Narcissa's life and his own.

Probably, just probably, he actually loved her.

"I swear" Cissy started, raising her head so she could look in his eyes and smiled brightly. "To be there for you in sickness and in health, in good and bad times. I swear to love you and respect you, and to give you courage and faith no matter how it things may seem. I will bear with you any grief and share with you any joy. I swear stand behind you even when no one else do."

Dromeda – and everyone else, if she had to judge by the silence – was stunned. The wedding vows weren't something traditional, like those of her and Ted, but that probably wasn't a problem – this wasn't a Muggle wedding and the wizard wasn't a priest.

But what actually surprised her was how true they were to each other – and that every word said was coming from their hearts and that they would never give up on each other, no matter what happens… _till death do them part_, like the priest on her wedding would say.

She realized that Cissy was right. They were indeed perfect for each other.

"You may now kiss the bride." The officiant said, smiling slightly, and everyone applauded their first kiss as spouses.

Lucius squinted and examined the crowd for someone as Cissy waved at everyone, still beaming, and taking the presents and the congratulations with her usual huge smile. Her husband stayed hand in hand with her, but Andromeda could see that he was still searching for someone…

His eyes suddenly locked with hers and he raised an eyebrow questioningly with a slight smirk.

That git.

Unable to hold her smile, Andromeda nodded approvingly.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's notes: I know that nothing important happens in this one actually, but I just had inspiration for a little thing like that and I just wrote it down. It would probably be a bit longer if I posted it tomorrow, but it's my birthday tomorrow so I probably won't have the time…**

**I hope you like it and, as always, reviews are most welcomed.**

**13 – Slytherins command attention and demand respect.**

She was actually missing an important class right now.

In fact, Narcissa was sure that Lucius was supposed to be studying for his NEWTs instead of wasting his time here.

He pressed next to her; his forehead touched her chin, because he was basically lying next to her while she was sitting. He was probably requiring her attention and Narcissa chuckled and started stroking his long blond hair once again.

"You act like my cat at home when she wants me to pay attention to her." She said and took her Transfiguration book in her other hand.

They were in some old, unused classroom in the middle of the afternoon. The sun was spread all over the place as they were sitting on a big couch, just resting here like any other time these days. Narcissa liked the moments when they had some peace here.

The couch in question was actually a desk five days ago – thanks to Cissy's transfiguration skills, they had turned the abandoned classroom into some kind of a lair where they hid from everyone every time when they got tired from the mess that awaited them amongst their friends.

Lucius groaned.

"Are you really going to study _now_?" he asked in disbelief. The girl rolled her eyes.

"I'm a sixth year now, Lucius, and I'm missing an important Transfiguration lesson for NEWTs right now. It's only next year and you know it!"

She almost couldn't believe it that she was the one that was so concerned for the exams, when he was supposed to be – they approached for him rapidly only a month from now.

"You can turn a desk into a couch, Cissa." He drawled. "You don't need any more practicing."

"That doesn't mean that I can do whatever I want just to stay here and to skip classes casually just to have a small chat with you every now and then." Narcissa pointed out. "By the way, do you always tempt people into doing forbidden stuff when you're around?"

"It depends on what exactly you mean." Lucius said with a sly glint in his eyes.

"Oh Merlin, I'm not talking about that, pervert!" she rolled her eyes and hit him slightly with the hand that was stroking his hair, but couldn't hide her smile. "I meant that I'm all nice and studying and suddenly you appear and take me here, out of the school or basically everywhere else because you're too lazy to stay in your class or just for the hell of it… You see!" she exclaimed. Lucius looked up at her in surprise. "I don't even use phrases like 'for the hell of it' when you're not around!"

"I'm not lazy!" he protested and slid his arm around her waist. Narcissa gave him a suspicious look. "I already know all of this and I'm just bored. And I think that my influence on you is actually pretty good. You stop being daddy's little girl when I'm around, you also aren't the princess I'm used to know… you're just… Cissa."

It was actually pretty complicated for you to have any sort of relationship with him. He was arrogant, had a short temper and high expectations about almost anything. But he was also funny and nice to her, and she really liked exactly that part of him that made her laugh and made her being herself.

"Sure" was all she actually said with a sigh and continued reading her book.

Lucius gave a purring laugh and sat up so he could hold her in his embrace. Narcissa gasped quietly when she felt his lips on the back of her neck.

"Lucius." She started firmly – she was always trying to create some kind of borders between them, because that always made her thought that he would respect her more like that – but her voice died after a second when he kissed her skin again.

"Do you know what I like the most about you, Cissa?" he murmured, his arms crawled around her waist. Cissy shivered. She hated him when he made her feel like that. "On the outside, you look so helpless and innocent, such a damsel in distress." He chuckled huskily, removing her hair from her neck and kissing her again. "But on the inside? On the inside you, Narcissa Black, are a powerful, great, with fire of a soul woman who usually gets exactly what she wants."

Cissy smirked slightly at these words. He was right. That was what she liked about her appearance the most too – it made her look so innocent it was hiding her personality entirely. She most often had everyone fooled about what kind of a person she actually was. Well, except him.

Lucius tried to kiss her lips, but she shook her head.

"No. Again." She commanded. He grinned as he kissed her neck once more instead and made her shiver.

"I assume you like it, then?" he asked.

Cissy nodded curtly. He tightened the grip around her waist and kissed her skin again, this time more tenderly, making her close her eyes and rest her head back on his shoulders.

"Cissa…" he whispered.

She knew that right now, she was probably under his control. Maybe that was a payback for any other time when she had bossed over him to do whatever she needed – bring breakfast from the Great Hall because she didn't want to go and take it herself and stuff like that.

She had to admit that she's always in the winning position anyway.

"Yes, Lucius?" She managed to say. He laughed again.

"I want…"

"Hmm?" she asked with a smirk, but her heart was beating rapidly in her chest…

Suddenly the door swung open and someone entered the room. Lucius' arms tightened around Narcissa, as if he was trying to protect her, but the only 'danger' appeared to be professor Slughorn.

"Merlin, boy, not you again!" he said desperately, staring at Lucius. Narcissa suddenly realized that Lucius had unbuttoned half of her shirt and felt awfully. _You'll pay for that, idiot._ She thought. It was his fault and his only. Only if he wasn't trying to hook up with her for a change…

"I thought you've stopped with this already." Slughorn exclaimed. Narcissa thought that Lucius seemed rather ashamed, but managed to keep his usual supercilious expression on. "I haven't caught you anywhere around in the last four weeks! And… Ms. Black!" The man turned to her now, almost as shocked as them. The teacher shook his head. "And I thought I can expect better behavior at least from you…"

"I'm sorry, Professor!" she said and smiled sweetly as Slughorn made a gesture to the door and they hurried out of the room.

Professor Slughorn smiled brightly back at her; she had always been one of his favorite students from their year.

"No problem, Ms. Black, no problem… If you just don't do it again…"

"Four weeks, huh?" Narcissa teased Lucius when they got out in the corridor. "What was that… Oh, our first date in Hogsmeade was a month ago, wasn't it?" she smiled innocently at him.

She was teasing him on purpose now; mostly because she thought that if it wasn't for his ideas, she wouldn't get caught in such an embarrassing situation. Instead, she would be in class, like she was supposed to. Damn him and his charms.

"I suppose you're finally taking me seriously, then?" she asked.

Lucius snorted, but his face was slightly pink.

"No, 'course. Slughorn said he didn't catch me; who said that I just hadn't found a better place to hide?"

"Nice try." Cissy said and kissed him just for an instant. Then she stepped back, enjoying the effect and examining his reaction – one of surprise and slight disappointment. Her laughter rang in the corridor.

"Evil witch." Lucius murmured and chased her as she ran down the stairs. "Come back here!"

She felt his hands around her once more as he whispered. "Got you, Cissa."

"'Cissa?' I so won't fall for that again!" she said, but her lips curled into a gentle smile when she met his silver eyes.

Lucius kissed her; this time the kiss was soft and playful. It made her feel like they had all the time on the world – just for them and no one else.

"Well?" he murmured in her year; his breath tickling her skin. "What if I _do_ take you seriously?"

"That would be wonderful." She said with a mocking smile. "But I highly doubt you do."

"Oh, so you want me to actually have respect for you?" he asked, touching his forehead with hers and raising his eyebrows.

She just nodded. Of course she wanted respect. She wanted to be treated like a princess (she may not be one, but that was the impression she wanted to make) and also as equal; she wanted to be loved, even adored.

And – she would never say such a thing though – she wouldn't mind if Lucius was the one to give her all of that. But of course, no matter how open-minded she was, even she couldn't allow herself to admit it.

"Well, I've always had respect for you, Cissa." He said softly.

She trembled; her emotions were almost taking over the façade. She actually loved it when he called her like that. It made her feel somehow special, because it sounded so beautiful and yet so simple.

But on the outside, she grinned again at him; her eyes sparkled mischievously for an instant, before she ran away from him, making him follow her with a growl.

"I'm still not falling for that, Lucius!"


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's notes: A shorter one, I know, but I really liked how it happened in the end.**

**14 – Slytherins tend to want things they don't have and underappreciate the things they do.**

Lucius finally got back into reality when he felt Narcissa's warm hands around his neck as she whispered "hey" and hugged him. He was signing and writing those documents for hours already, so he stretched and smiled lazily to his wife. Narcissa couldn't hold her grin when she saw his reading glasses.

"I still can't get used to these." she said. Lucius laughed and took them off. They weren't _that _ugly, but he preferred himself without them.

"It's better to wear them while I'm reading now than to wear them all the time after a few years. Or at least that's what the Healer said." He narrowed his eyes, repeating the exact words. The woman smiled and her silky blond hair touched his face.

"The healer's right, Lucius." Narcissa said as she wrapped her hands around him and kissed his cheek, still smiling warmly at him, in a way he haven't seen her in the last months. She had many duties, of course, the baby and everything, but Lucius was pretty often jealous of the kid – the baby got much more time with her than him.

"Cissa…" Lucius murmured, still smiling as he glanced at her when her trail of feather-light kisses reached his lips. "I won't be able to get any work done if you keep distracting me like that."

He realized that he sounded kind of pleased though; and he was. Actually with his work at the ministry – mostly donations and things like that – and his 'work' as a Death Eater (inherited from his dear father) sometimes he couldn't get any time with his family at all. And he missed her all the time. He rarely had the will to say it, but he loved her. He probably loved her even since they first met when they were still children. Or at least in that moment she won his heart, even if he couldn't quite be familiar with the feeling back then.

Lucius kissed her slowly and left his quill on the bureau; the document was forgotten. He kissed her again, wrapping his hands around her waist and taking her in his lap. He stroked her hair, rather distractedly, because the thought of the baby a minute ago made him realize that he hadn't see his son from a few days. Actually, Draco could perhaps barely recognize his father.

"What's the little one doing?" he asked. Narcissa let out a relieved sigh.

"Sleeping. Finally."

Lucius nodded understandingly; he knew that Cissa hadn't slept properly for months and now was her chance before the baby gets old enough to torture them both all the time – again. Lucius shivered when he remembered the long sleepless nights when Draco was crying without giving himself a rest and finally went to sleep at sunrise.

Lucius knew that she wouldn't want to wake the baby now. But he just couldn't stop himself from asking:

"I know that getting him to sleep again takes ages but… Can I see him? You know, I don't get the chance very often… So three of us… we can go out and have a walk in the garden… or something."

"You… you want to see him?" asked Narcissa; her eyes were showing him how surprised she actually was despite the warm look in her eyes.

"Of course. I'm his father." Lucius smiled curiously at her surprise. What was so strange about it?

"Sure… just give me a minute to dress him up…" Cissa said and hurried out of the room; her playful smile gone and replaced by a nervous one he couldn't quite understand.

Five minutes later Lucius was already sitting by the fountain in the garden, holding his son. Narcissa was standing next to him, ready to react if he messed up things, and still wore this rather nervous expression.

"What's wrong, Cissa?" Lucius asked gently as he watched Draco closing his eyes and falling asleep again. He lowered his voice. "I thought you'd like such a thing… you know, having a walk like a family for a change."

"Of course I do." She answered and smiled at him again.

"But…?" Lucius asked. He was sure there was something that made her feel uncomfortable for some reason.

"But… we don't do things like that, Lucius." Narcissa answered and stared at the ground; she probably didn't want to make eye contact.

Lucius trembled as if her words had hurt him. Was he really that bad? Did she really find it so strange that he just wanted to have some time with his family?

Of course he was, he thought and sighed. He was terrible both as a father and as a husband. He barely saw his own family just because of 'work' and of course, out of fear that the Dark Lord would think that he didn't want to obey his orders.

Narcissa never say a word about how often he was missing from home. She never openly told him how many nights she was waiting at the door, afraid that he will never come home; she had mentioned it though, but he didn't make a big deal about it. He didn't tend to appreciate anything his life had given him. And to think, he had everything one would wish for – a loving wife he loved, a healthy child, really much money, a big house – many people could only dream of that. He had it all and didn't even feel grateful about it; he just went out every now and then, risking his life for a cause he wasn't sure he believed in anymore.

"We will, Cissa." He murmured and pressed her next to him in a warm embrace with his free hand – he was still holding the baby in the other one. "I promise that we will. One day, all of this will be over."

"I thought you wanted it." She whispered. "Everything that happens. I thought you wanted the Dark Lord to win this war."

"If that would cost me everything else, I don't want it, Cissa." He said and smiled sadly. In a way, they were ones of the many suffering from this war – even when they were also amongst the ones that started it.

"Soon." Lucius said once again and closed his eyes as if this would hide him from the truth. "I promise. It will be over soon."


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's notes: OK, I have no idea where this one came from, but I hope you like it, and as always, reviews are most welcome.**

**15 – Slytherins are keeping score when you don't even know you're in a competition.**

Narcissa was still in bed, eating the breakfast Lucius had made for her – _he had actually made her breakfast for her birthday – _when someone knocked on the door of the bedroom.

"Come in, Dobby." Narcissa said lazily. She could hear that Lucius was still in the bathroom, so it had to be the house elf.

"You've got a letter, Mistress." The elf squeaked. "Dobby saw it just appearing in the living room, Mistress, without an owl."

"And from who is it?" the woman asked, raising her eyebrows. That _did _sound strange – a letter arriving just like that, without an owl?

"Hogwarts, Mistress."

Hogwarts? Who it could be? Draco had already sent her an owl for her birthday fifteen minutes ago…

Narcissa touched the letter, still hesitating. It had one particular smell that made her remember her school years – one that probably she associated with her times at Hogwarts and opened it and curiously started reading.

_Hello, Cissy, and happy birthday!_

_If you're reading this, that means I won a bet. You're supposed to get this on your 35th birthday, 20 years from now._

A deep frown passed Narcissa's face. She recognized the handwriting – it looked like her own. And 20 years from now meant…

_However, I have this friend who thinks I'm not smart enough to send myself a letter that can arrive after 20 years on a place I don't know – because, you see, I have no idea where I'll live in the future. He also says that 'I'm not skilled enough, because I haven't even taken my OWLs yet. _

_So, Cissy, my dear future self, if you're still in touch with Lucius Malfoy when you read this, tell that annoying git that you've won the bet!_

Narcissa laughed out loud at this. She remembered everything now – the bet, the letter she wrote in case the magic worked. And Lucius' expression of someone who had just gained victory. Even her determination to succeed in this seemed like it had happened a few days ago. She had forgotten about this…

_Wherever you are, whoever you are now, you're probably a bit ashamed of me, aren't you? Wasting my time making bets instead of studying, and pending every free minute having fun with my friends – something I was strictly told not to do._

_However, you're now probably married, aren't you? With children and everything. It's strange even to think about it. I wonder who'll be my, I mean, _your_ husband. Narcissa Rosier? If you're given the chance, don't miss it girl, even though he's not really all that beautiful and nice…. Narcissa Lestrange? No, that sounds just wrong and Bella would rip your head off. Narcissa Nott? God, I hope not. Narcissa Malfoy?_

_Oh, Merlin, Lucius is coming and I really don't want him to read this._

_Wherever you are, Cissy, I hope you're happy and you're having a great time._

_Happy Birthday! _

_Sincerely, Cissy_

_The Slytherin common room_

_Hogwarts_

Cissy smiled to herself and then shouted "Lucius!"

"What?" she heard his voice from the bathroom.

"Would you hurry up, please, I want you to see something…"

Two minutes later, Lucius got out of the bathroom and sat next to her on the bed.

"What is it?" he asked again.

"I won." Narcissa answered, a slight smile curling her lips.

"You won what?"

"The bet."

"What bet?" Lucius asked with that spark in his eyes that made his wife grin. He was a sucker for any challenge. "We didn't have a bet about anything."

She passed him the letter and, as he read it, she saw the huge grin on his face.

"Don't call me a git!" he protested.

"I haven't for a while."

"No. Just no. You can't win a bet we had 20 years ago, Cissa."

"Yes, I think I can. So here you go. I won."

Lucius lied on the bed next to her and hugged her gently. It was one of the rare gestures he did that showed real affection from him.

"And what would your 15 years old self say now?" Lucius purred playfully in her ear. "If she knew you've chosen me after all?"

"I don't know." Narcissa murmured and smiled mischievously at him. The relationship between them to had barely changed since that bet so many years ago. "Probably something like 'Oh no! You didn't!'."

Lucius laughed – a true, real laugh was rare when it came to this man, but inside, Narcissa really thought about what she would say back then, if she could have seen her future.

It would ruin the surprise, of course, but I would probably be looking forward to this moment we have now_, _Cissy thought with a slight smile as she imagined the 15-years-old Narcissa that had wrote that letter 20 years ago in her innocent, reckless manner. '_Wherever you are, Cissy, I hope you're happy and you're having a great time.' _The 35-years-old Narcissa knew what she would say to her younger self if she could meet her then. _Oh, don't worry, Cissy. I'm having a great time indeed._


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's notes: I meant to write this from ages, but we have one more week to the end of the school year and I didn't get the time. I'm so glad it ends soon.**

**I hope you like this chapter; it was really easy to write and really short also, and that's exactly why I'm not really sure about it, but at least I tried…**

**16 – Slytherins are likely to come up with 'what if' scenarios. These thoughts may even keep them up at night.**

_He was trying to hold her close, but she was slipping away, out of his hands. She smiled playfully._

"_Don't worry, Lucius, I won't be far." She said._

_Quiet steps echoed from somewhere behind the corner. A cold laugh joined them; a laugh Lucius could recognize immediately, for it followed him in his nightmares every night._

_He could recognize it from the often visits of the man it belonged to and the long conversations of the said man with Lucius' father it the Manor…_

"_Cissa, no!" Lucius shouted, trying to take her hand again as he saw her smiling at him and disappearing behind the corner from where he could hear _him _coming. "Wait! It's dangerous!..."_

"_Goodbye, Mr. Malfoy." She said with a slight smile._

_And she was going with him, with the man with the cold laughter, she was out of his touch now…_

"_Cissa, please!" Lucius cried, but she was now hand in hand with the man Lucius was so terrified of…_

"_I'll see you again, Mr. Malfoy…"_

"Mr. Malfoy!"

Lucius' eyes snapped open. He glared at his father – who was right now also his Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.

"What?" he asked sharply, meeting the eyes of Abraxas Malfoy – just as green as his ones, but way more unyielding. The man ran his hand through his short blond hair.

"Were you asleep in my class?"

"Of course not, Fa… Mr. Malfoy."

"What was the last thing I was talking about, then?" Abraxas asked, skeptically raising his eyebrow.

"Err… Vampires?" Lucius asked hopefully. That was all he could remember from the lesson today.

A deep sigh from Mr. Malfoy senior.

"No. Actually, centaurs. 15 points from Slytherin."

Lucius grinded his teeth. What an irony. His own father was trying to screw him up. And this was yet not half as ironic as the fact that a Death Eater is teaching Defense against the Dark Arts.

"Can I have a quick word with you, _Sir_?" Lucius asked at the end of the lesson.

Abraxas nodded. His son closed the door and sat on the place opposite to Mr. Malfoy.

"This has to stop, Father." Lucius whispered frantically. "All of it. I have nightmares all the time; Meliora being kidnapped, Urbana or Quintessa getting killed, Mother being tortured…"

"I know that the family is safe." Abraxas pointed out calmly. He didn't look concerned at all and that made Lucius even more furious than he already was. What exactly _the family is safe_ meant in their case? He knew that his father couldn't guarantee any safety; not really, no matter how often he repeated it to his wife and his children.

"Yes." Lucius sighed in desperation, deciding to leave the topic for now. "But still, the horror is following me even in my dreams. I just fear that one day, He'll come and will take someone I love… I dream about her a lot, you know." The boy said absently. "I have nightmares, terrible nightmares, of her being taken away from me… Just like today…"

"'Her'? Who is she?" Abraxas asked firmly.

"It doesn't matter!" Lucius snapped. "Because you're obviously not getting the point! It doesn't matter who exactly it is; the problem is that if he takes away someone I love, I can do nothing, and nor can you and you know that it's your entire fault, because if you haven't messed up with all of this…"

"Who is she?" Abraxas asked again, rising his voice. Lucius didn't answer – he didn't want to let his father know about it – but he shivered.

"A girl." He whispered. He was sure that his father wouldn't hit him, but he was still quite afraid.

"Do I know her?" his father asked; his silver eyes locking with the identical ones of his son as Lucius pursed his lips.

"Probably." He muttered.

"Then who?" Abraxas snapped impatiently. "Who is she?"

"Narcissa." Lucius gave up at least. "Narcissa Black."

"And I assume you want her?" Abraxas asked, raising an eyebrow again. Lucius rolled his eyes. That was why he didn't want him to know about this; his father was always so practical and always saw the simplest way of things.

"I love her." Lucius answered quietly. His father laughed.

"Oh boy… don't get me wrong, but you can't love anybody on that age." He said. Lucius' hands turned into fists.

"I'm seventeen, Father. I think I can recognize if I…"

"Don't be stupid, Lucius." Abraxas said, already annoyed from the conversation. "She won't get hurt. She's a pureblood. Now stop with that rubbish and go to your common room before I change my mind and put a detention on you for sleeping in my class."

Lucius was feeling trapped; trapped from the anger he was too afraid from his father to express. He felt tears of anger burning in his eyes. Wasn't there anything that could remain for him without this man ruining it?

"Of course, _Professor."_ He hissed and closed the door as noisy as he could behind his back.

Many hours later, when he was already in his dormitory, Lucius couldn't sleep.

And what if his father was wrong – it wouldn't be for the first or for the last time it happened – and his Narcissa was actually in danger? What he would do if something happened to her? Because even though what Abraxas told him, Lucius was sure that he loved her, he truly loved her… was there any other feeling that could make him stand up at night and pace around in worries for her?

Finally, he tried to pull himself together and went to his bed, pulling the curtain all around it – this exact night he didn't fancy looking at the weird shapes the water from the lake formed on the windows.

_She's in the next room, _Lucius thought, closing his eyes. _She's calm and absolutely safe._

As for the time when they got out of Hogwarts a month later, he would be there to protect her, he said to himself determinedly. There was nothing that could stop him from doing that, no matter what his father told him.

It was the first night from weeks that he slept dreamlessly.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's notes: A quicker update this time and I hope it's worth it. I know the ending is quite strange, but it's after midnight already and I'm half dead... **

**By the way, the mentioned Molly, daughter of Lucretia Black and Ignatius Prewett is indeed the future Molly Weasley. I checked it. That leaded me to the thought that if the Black Manor was somewhere near to Ottery St. Catchpole, probably that's where she met Arthur even before school…**

**Anyway, now that I reread the last chapter I'm almost ashamed of it, and… I'll just try to think of it as some – little – thingy – between – the – chapters. So here's a real chapter for you guys. And, of course, reviews are always welcomed.**

**17 – Slytherins hate to be told "you don't understand".**

He couldn't believe that she had tricked him into this.

Lucius grimaced again when Narcissa proudly showed him the Black Manor.

"So here we are." She said pretty cheerfully – actually, it was almost suspicious. He glared at her.

It was in the middle of the summer, in their vacation. She had just gotten the results from her OWLs and everyone in the family was very proud of her. Probably this required some sort of a family reunion, because her parents had brought here everyone they could find.

Narcissa insisted for him to come. He didn't want to. She was the only one from her family he actually stand.

"I'm really not sure about this, Cissa." He said doubtfully and tried – unsuccessfully, of course – to escape. She grinned at him.

"No way you're leaving me now." She said and almost dragged him into the house.

Lucius frowned again, but didn't say a thing. Of course, she had promised that he would come.

The night air around them was warm and it was windy outside; actually pretty much the weather he usually liked.

"Let's stay here, just for a while." He begged. They were only a foot away from the door of the Manor itself now. "Look at how nice is it outside. Come on, Cissa."

"I want to stay too, Lucius." She smiled sadly. "But I have no choice. I have to go."

Lucius sighed, but came after her anyway.

It was dark in the dining room; only a few candles were floating in the air near the table. The room was huge; almost bigger than the one in his own home. The place was gloomy and quite depressing. The fact that everyone around the table was black-haired and dark-skinned didn't help too. Soon Lucius realized that the only exceptions were Narcissa, her father and Lucius himself.

"Oh." Druella said, raising her head from the table. Her voice broke the silence and everyone looked up at them. Lucius felt even worse than till this moment. "It's you. You're late, you know that, right?"

Cissy nodded wordlessly.

"Lucius." The woman nodded at him. It was all she said, but he knew that it was the politest salute she could manage to afford for him.

"Hello." He answered coldly; he didn't like the way she treated her daughter, not that he had a word here. He didn't like this woman since the first day she met her – and he was really young back then.

"You can sit here." Cygnus smiled warmly to them and made a gesture to the last two left free chairs next to him. When they hesitated, he smiled encouragingly and the boy felt somewhat better – he knew that the man didn't like him either, but at least he was bothering to be nice for his daughter. Lucius followed Narcissa obediently and sat down.

"Now that you're finally here…" Druella glanced at her youngest daughter. "…We shall begin."

Suddenly the empty plates filled with food – there were even some exotic fruits he couldn't recognize (even since, like a real Malfoy, he had ate basically anything that you could see on earth) and as everyone started eating and nobody was looking at him curiously anymore, Lucius got the possibility to recognize the people around the table.

Next to Cissa he could see her younger cousins – the 12-years-old Sirius and his younger brother Regulus– right now the two boys were having a quiet argument – and their parents. Lucretia Black with her husband Ignatius Prewett and their daughter Molly. The girl was 20 years old now – for what he knew, she was in Bellatrix' year at school – but looked almost lost in here and so terrified that she could be at all. She was staring at the floor and Lucius could see that her place is not here at all.

There were also a few more aunts and uncles with their kids that Lucius could recognize – they were from the Rosier family, relatives to his mother also. He greeted them politely and they answered with the same, but he was still feeling quite awkwardly. He was still sure that he couldn't get along with anyone in this room – except probably Cygnus and Cissa – even if his life depended on it.

A sudden noise appeared all around them as everyone was distracted from their conversations and was already focused on the meals. Lucius was starving, so he started eating too, but soon he noticed something.

Not everyone was eating. Next to him, Cissa was pretty convincing too, but he could see that she was just flipping the food in her plate, pretending to eat, but nothing really went to her mouth.

"Eat, stupid girl." Druella hissed. "I don't want you to faint again or anything like that."

"You fainted?" Lucius asked, surprised. She hadn't mentioned it. Narcissa blushed. "You didn't tell a thing."

"Yes, she fainted." Said Andromeda judgingly from the opposite side of the table and shook her head. "We were out in the town down the hill… Ottery St. Catchpole, or whatever it was… It was really hot and she hadn't eaten anything again. For a whole day."

Lucius could understand Andromeda's mentioning for the heat; probably here it was even hotter than back in Wiltshire where he came from – and this summer, even at his place was terribly hot. But what he couldn't get was why Cissa had refused to eat anything.

"It doesn't matter what happened." Druella snapped. "Eat, I said."

"I don't want to." Cissa said quietly, but determinedly.

"You'll do as I said!" her mother raised her voice, but Narcissa didn't even tremble, unlike her father. Lucius could see that Cygnus wanted to defend his daughter, but he probably wasn't sure if it would be better for her if he did.

"No, I won't." Cissa repeated. She wasn't the type of person that liked to be in the middle of loud arguments that automatically took everyone's attention. She was the one that preferred the quiet fights, but she almost always won.

"Cissa, come one." Lucius said. He was only trying to help her, of course. "Why won't you just take a bite?"

Narcissa muttered something under her breath that he didn't catch.

"She's on a diet." Bellatrix said in a bored voice. "Again."

Lucius laughed, but after just a second, he stopped. Nobody else reacted like that. She wasn't joking.

"Cissa?" he asked. Sirius, the closest one to her, whispered something to his brother and Lucius was pretty sure that he heard the words "pretentious brat." He saw how Narcissa's eyes started gleaming on the light from the chandelier. She touched his hand gently and smiled.

"I'll wait for you up the stairs." She said and then turned to her father. "Dad, am I free to go?"

After a short hesitation, the man nodded silently and Narcissa left the room.

Everyone continued with their dinner and their conversations – probably they had this argument, but Lucius couldn't think for anything but Narcissa. Where was she now? What was she thinking about all of this? Was she upset?

Without saying it to anyone particularly, Lucius excused himself and left the room to go and find her.

Good thing he had been here before. It was years ago, but he could still remember where her room is. Second floor, the fourth door in the right. He went there and knocked confidently on the door. He heard a soft sob from inside the room.

"Leave me alone."

"Cissa, it's me." He raised his voice so she could hear him even through the closed door. "I'm here to help."

A few quiet steps and Narcissa opened the door. She wasn't crying, but he could see that her eyes were still glimmering in the dark and her voice was huskier than usual.

"You won't understand." She murmured.

"I will." Lucius said and entered the room, closing the door behind his back.

"No, you won't." Cissa repeated. He was starting to get mad. He wasn't that stupid after all!

"Try me." He insisted. Maybe trying to make _her _get mad was a good idea too. At least she wouldn't be feeling so crestfallen.

"It's just… What have I ever done to them?" she asked herself bitterly as he embraced her and sat on a chair next to her desk under the window. "Why can't everyone just watch over themselves and leave everybody else do whatever they want?"

"They're just concerned about you, Cissa." Lucius tried to convince her as he ran his fingers though her silky blond hair.

"Some of them, yes." She admitted with a nod. "Dromeda and dad, maybe. But what about Mother and Bella? All they care about is to mock everyone for something. Yesterday, it was dad – Mother said he was a fool for working in a bookstore when he already had the money he got there. And before that, it was Dromeda for her relationship with that Muggle-born guy. I can't understand it either, but it's a concern of hers after all, isn't it?"

"Of course it is." Lucius assured her. He was ready to agree to anything she said right now. "Look, Cissa. Don't stay here crying. Just go down there and tell them what you think. Stop hiding every time you get upset. Instead of that – get mad!"

Silence.

"You know…" she drawled. "You're quite right, Lucius."

He let out a relieved sigh.

"Sure I am, Cissa." He teased her. "I'm always right."

Narcissa jumped out of his embrace and grinned at him.

"Wait for me here." She said. "I'll be back in a minute."

Lucius nodded slightly and watched her leave the room and heard her run down the stairs. He smiled unconsciously. That was why she loved her – if she wanted, Cissa could be a really powerful and independent young woman – no matter that she was only sixteen.

And after all, until they were here for each other, they would both be strong enough.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's notes: Again, a page long description of Narcissa's appearance. I'm sorry that I'm doing that so often, but I just can't make it stop. :D And I know that it wasn't the perfect chapter when it comes to a proposal, but it was really vivid in my head for days and I thought that that's how I should do it at least.**

**By the way, I have to especially thank for all the reviews to iheartweasleytwins. Just… thank you. Reviews are the most inspiring thing that keeps me writing.**

**18 – Slytherins need to feel important.**

"Lucius!"

Narcissa almost threw herself in his embrace and heard him chuckling quietly. She hadn't seen him from her last visit in Hogsmeade in September, and now, it was already February. She didn't realize how much she was missing him till now.

"Hello, Cissa." He said, stepping back to take a good look of her, and she didn't mind. She was actually really content with how she looked like today – it took her hours. She was wearing a new dress exactly for their meeting here; it was a present from her mother – one of the rare ones she really liked. She was freezing, but it didn't matter.

The dress was short, light-blue and covered with little glimmering crystals that made it look like she's covered in ice – which went pretty nice with all the snow around them. It had a corset and many skirts, almost like a ballerina's dress. Narcissa, of course, knew that a ballerina would never be dressed up in such a thing; the corset made it too heavy. To go with the dress, she had taken a sky blue jacket – its sleeves were long, but the jacked itself was really short and she had picked it up mostly because she didn't want to die outside – it was 2nd February after all. She wore fitting high heels that were making her feet hurt, but once again, she didn't mind as long as she looked perfect today.

Her light blond hair was up in an elegant French twist, accompanied by a small silver tiara. The girl wore necklace on her neck with an enormous aquamarine, given to her from her father the day ago, also as a present for her birthday. The make-up wasn't very much; just a bit of eyeshades in the color of the dress. Cissy liked to think that she looks like some sort of the Queen of the winter. It would suit her quite well right now.

"You look lovely. Not that I'm surprised." Lucius said and smiled gently at her, resting his right arm on her shoulders. "Happy birthday, Cissa! Already eighteen, huh? I can't believe it!"

"Hey!" she poked him playfully. "You're just a year older than me! Don't pretend to be my big brother or something."

He laughed again and followed her on her way to the "Three Broomsticks." She could hear his quiet steps next to her and it was pretty relaxing. She didn't know where any of her friends are, but she didn't want to meet them today. The visits in Hogsmeade were Lucius' days since he graduated last year and they could see each other only in those rare occasions she could get out of Hogwarts.

"And so? Where's my gift?" Cissy asked impatiently. Just yesterday he had sent her an owl that said he had brought her something really special. She wondered what it may be since then and now, she couldn't wait anymore.

"Just wait a few more minutes." Lucius said with a slight smirk he tried to hide. "Like I told you, it's really special and probably a bit unusual. And definitely you'll be surprised, so… I want you to sit first."

So five minutes later, already in the "Three Broomsticks", Narcissa was trying to be patient. It would be inappropriate to ask him once again; she didn't want to seem too insolent. But anyway, just in the moment when she decided that it's time to remind him of her gift again, Lucius took a deep breath and started talking, staring at his arms.

"Well, Cissa… Here's what I wanted to tell you." He said. She couldn't tell if he was nervous and if he was, she didn't know what the reason was – or at least, she tried not to think about it. It didn't work. Narcissa smiled sadly.

"I knew it." She said softly. _It's not his fault, it's not his fault, _she repeated to herself, but when she tried to talk, her voice came out with unease. "Well, it was meant to happen sooner or later, wasn't it? Your parents are not stupid enough to wait for me to finish school… and I guess that nor will you. It's fine, Lucius. I don't blame you."

A deep frown passed Lucius' pale face as he stared at her in confusion. That didn't make things any easier, though. Maybe he just didn't want her to know about that, but she couldn't hide from the truth anymore, no matter how hard it was for her.

"What are you talking about?" he asked honestly. Cissy tried to avoid eye contact. He couldn't think she's that stupid.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it? It had to happen. You heard my mother last summer, on Bella's engagement party. She knew that it's a matter of time until you… well, you know. So… I guess that your parents already found you… someone. Where is she?"

Narcissa said all of this very fast – and wasn't sure he actually understood every word of it. She didn't want to show any kind of emotion. She knew that it was ridiculous to think that their relationship could ever work. Her mother had said her in an owl last month that she's waiting for her to finish school and that after this moment, she'll find her 'a husband suitable for her social class and blood purity'. That either meant someone from her year at school that she would never be able to look in the eye anymore in the same way or someone really, really older than her. Someone next to whom she would look like a child.

Andromeda sent her an owl just a week after this news and made her a list of the possible men – Rabastan Lestrange, Jacob Nott, Sean Parkinson, Tony Rosier, or – for Merlin's sake – William Avery. The poor bloke was a fifth year now. She couldn't marry a fifteen years old boy no matter what! Rabastan was in her year, but she had a relationship with him for a while in their fifth year and now it would be extremely awkward if she was about to become his wife – and, well, she'd have to live with Bella in the Lestrange Manor for the rest of her life. The other three boys were just a year older than her, but she almost didn't know them.

And, well, Cissy didn't even want to think about the possibility of being married to some 40 years old wizard.

"Cissa." Lucius said seriously and saved her from her thoughts that were just getting darker and darker. "I'm not going to get married. I'm not engaged to anyone. Actually, that was what I wanted to talk with you about… That's also why my parents are here today."

In the same moment, she filled with two completely different emotions – joy and panic.

Suddenly Narcissa realized that maybe her new pretty sky blue corset dress wasn't such a good idea after all. She couldn't breathe properly in it even when she was calm and now, as she realized what Lucius was possibly talking about, the world started spinning before her eyes.

And indeed, an instant later Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy came in. Lucius stood up immediately and went to them, talking something to his father, who seemingly disapproved what his son wanted and shook his head. Mrs. Malfoy smiled encouragingly at Cissy and the girl hastily looked at her reflection on the teaspoon on the table – she had become paler than ever. Then the older man approached, holding a small box in his hands.

"Miss Black." Abraxas Malfoy bowed slightly with almost unnoticeable smile. "Charming as every other time. It's always a joy to meet you." He was always so polite, and yet his eyes followed her reactions; every little move she made. It made her quite nervous.

"T-thank you." She said, trying to smile gracefully and to sound proud and sure of herself and, basically, like a real woman – that was what she was supposed to be now. _Pull yourself together, _she thought firmly. _You're eighteen already, act like it. _But inside, the little girl she actually was, was trembling in some strange impatience mixed with fear and anxiousness. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, sir."

"Thank you, thank you, Miss…" the man murmured. His son snorted behind his back and Narcissa couldn't hide her smile. Then Abraxas continued with a sigh and she returned his attention back to him. "Anyway, I'm here to represent my son's wish to…"

"Oh, let me!" Lucius snapped and took the box out of his father's hands. Then, obviously without any trace of nervousness, he kneeled in front of Narcissa, locking his silver eyes with hers determinedly. Cissy felt like if her heart was about to escape from her any second now. "Narcissa Elladora Black…" he began still without taking his eyes off hers. "I meant to do this as long as you're of age. But then I decided that you may need some more time and perhaps you weren't ready for this… Well, it's not going to be official for now anyway, not until you want it to be, but… Nevertheless, it's a real honor for me to ask you this question. Will you become my wife?"

Everyone in here was staring at them now – including Narcissa's friends from school that now looked at her, astonished, with their eyes wide open. Well, she couldn't blame them, she was just as surprised. Cissy detected someone outside and saw her parents. Cygnus was smiling at her receptively and gave her thumbs up. Druella stared at him – like she couldn't believe how childish her husband was – and then her eyes focused firmly back on her daughter in the inside.

So both families knew about this and no one bothered to tell her anything.

She was going to kill her sisters.

She looked back at Lucius that now seemed quite worried but tried not to show it; his eyes still focused on hers, his lips curled into a slight questioning smile.

Nobody around dared to make a sound. It was so quiet in the "Three Broomsticks" that Narcissa could only hear her own rapid heartbeat. Everyone – even people that she wasn't sure she had ever talked to – now stared at her in expectation to her response.

"Yes." She whispered finally. "Yes, I will."

Lucius exhaled loudly and a huge smile appeared on his face as he made her stood up and held her tight in his embrace – but, of course, only after he had put the ring – a Malfoy family heirloom – on her finger.

"Thank you." He breathed in her ear – so quietly that probably she was the only one who could hear him. "I love you, Cissa."

"I love you too, Lucius."

Soon everyone had surrounded them; her mother telling her that she's really proud of her and that she made the right decision, her father saying a simple 'I hope you'll be happy, Ciss', then Bella and Dromeda that entered too, Cissy's friends from school, Lucius' parents congratulating them…

"I hope you didn't make this only because everyone was watching us." Lucius said worriedly at the end of the day, when she had to return back to school already. Cissy shook her head, quite amused from his unusual unsure behavior.

"Of course not, Lucius. I would say yes no matter when you asked."

When she said goodbye to her family and him and started walking slowly on the way back to Hogwarts, she stared at the ring he had given her, suddenly realizing that it was still there.

It was small and silver, with an emerald on it. It wasn't too pompous and she liked that; it seemed delicate and fragile. _It's actually pretty much like our relationship ever since we met – fragile and delicate,_ Cissy thought. _But still priceless._


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's notes: I had the idea for this one since I started to write this fic and it happened pretty much as I imagined it, so I hope you'll enjoy it too! : )**

**And, just like always, reviews, critiques and any kind of feedback are welcome. I mean, seriously. When you favorite the story or put it in your alert, it makes me feel great, but I would still like to hear your opinion.**

**19 – The emotions you see on a Slytherin's face are nothing compared to what's happening beneath the surface.**

Lucius barely raised his head from his breakfast when someone entered the kitchen.

He was at Narcissa's place for a day or two; she had invited him because her parents weren't here for the weekend and he had arrived a few minutes ago and right now he was eating a peanut butter toast while Narcissa was having her breakfast – cereals.

The girl that entered the kitchen now, however, had dark curly mess of a hair and was dressed only in a white shirt that barely covered her hips. It was probably Andromeda and Lucius narrowed his eyes – once she notices him, she would start complaining. She really, really didn't like him.

"Coffee?" she croaked. "Cissy, I need coffee, please."

"There, Bella." Narcissa said and sighed slightly, pointing at the cup of coffee next to Lucius. His eyes widened. So it was Bellatrix. What was she doing here? He wasn't sure who's better to be here of them two – she or Andromeda – since both of them weren't big fans of him.

"Thanks." Bellatrix murmured and sat on the chair beside him. She took a big sip of the coffee and then looked at her sister to ask her sister… and noticed Lucius.

What followed was probably the loudest scream he had ever heard.

"What the hell, Black?" Lucius shouted at her. Narcissa just kept eating her cereals calmly. She was used to this since they were in school.

"What are you doing in my kitchen?" Bellatrix asked in disbelief and for his surprise, Lucius realized that she had blushed slightly. Well, it wasn't his fault that she hadn't dressed appropriately.

"And what are _you _doing here? Aren't you married already?" Actually, he knew she was, since he was on the wedding, but still, he had to ask. "Where's Rodolphus?"

"On a trip; something that has to do with business, I guess. I hate being alone in the Lestrange Manor, it's so boring…"

Lucius snorted. There wasn't a minute for him and Narcissa to be alone. She was 18 for almost half a year now; he was 19 and her mother – and mostly, father – had trusted them enough to leave them alone here. And now here was Cissa's older sister to baby-sit them again.

As the day went on, Lucius barely saw her again; on dinner, however, she appeared again.

"Are you going to sleep in Cissy's bedroom?" Bellatrix asked him. Lucius nodded.

"Yes. And if you were planning a pajama party or something like that…" he didn't finish the sentence and he heard Cissy chuckling quietly on the other side of the table.

"Surely not!" Bellatrix exclaimed. "But I want you two to keep quiet; I've got the worst headache ever. So, I don't care if you're going to shag her or not, but…"

"Bella!" Narcissa gasped, scandalized. She had flushed furiously and Lucius couldn't blame her – he himself was pretty shocked from Bellatrix's directness.

"Oh, don't pretend to be so innocent, Cissy…" her sister muttered. "Anyway, I want you absolutely quiet, because Cissy's room is right next to mine. If I hear a word from it, I'll kick you out of it and… well, the guestrooms are always there for you."

Lucius expected that Narcissa would say something about it – for what he knew, she didn't like being commanded and that was the root of many of her arguments with her mother, her older sisters and even with him – but she didn't. Instead, she just nodded.

"Yes, Bella."

Bellatrix smiled wickedly and her eyes sparkled dangerously. Even Lucius shivered. He had seen her looking like that before. It was usually before starting to torture some of their classmates. Ever since she was at school – still three years older than him and much more confident – he had admired her for the way she mocked everyone, but now, it wasn't quite as funny. She was already twenty-two years old and looked pretty serious.

"Good girl." She said, laughing quietly. "You don't want to make me angry, do you?"

The other girl shook her head frantically and Lucius could see the panic in her eyes.

"No, Bella."

Well, that was strange.

* * *

"What was that?" Lucius asked a bit later when they were already going to bed.

"What was what?" Narcissa asked, frowning. He wasn't sure if she wanted to change the topic or if she really didn't understand him.

"'Yes, Bella. No, Bella. Here's your coffee, Bella. Do you want me to be your personal servant, Bella?'" He imitated her. He knew that his voice didn't sound as clear and high as hers, but that wasn't the point now. "By the way, what's she on?"

"Stop it!" the girl hissed; her face even paler than before. "You have no idea what you're talking about. And, for heaven's sake, I hope she only had too much fire whiskey yesterday."

"I know you're hiding something, Cissa." Lucius insisted. "She can't treat you like that. And you're _afraid_ of her. I can tell. You've never been afraid of her before."

Narcissa just shook her head, but still, she smiled to him weakly. She didn't like to look upset; he had to know that by now. Yet, he could see it in her eyes – fear. For some reason, she feared her older sister.

"I told you. You have no idea what you're talking about." She repeated.

"Try me." He said. Cissa narrowed her eyes.

"You won't get it."

"Fine, then!" he snarled.

"Are you mad at me, Lucius?" Narcissa asked with a raised eyebrow; her voice high and mocking – it unpleasantly reminded him of her sister – but she was smiling at him. It actually made him even madder than he already was – she wasn't taking him seriously at all.

"Maybe a bit." Lucius admitted. He wasn't able to say anything else when she was staring at him like that.

"Well, maybe Bella is right and I can offer you a guestroom." She said with a glint in her eyes; her head tilted questioningly at him as she smiled innocently. He was perfectly aware that she's trying to avoid his questions for her strange behavior, but decided to abandon the topic – for now. He grinned at her.

"Oh, you're not getting rid of me so easily!"

* * *

The sun was still rising when something woke him up.

Lucius sat up in Narcissa's enormous bed and saw her getting out of the bathroom, already in her favorite dress. It was barely reaching her knees and it was with some floral ornaments on it.

"Vintage. Lovely." He said and she smiled brightly at him. "But why are you up so early, Cissa?"

"To make breakfast." She said like it was obvious. He watched her finding her shoes and putting them on, and then starting to brush her long blond hair, today formed into big curls. He frowned.

"Breakfast? Don't you have house elves here?" Lucius asked, confused.

"Of course we do. But Bella wouldn't let them touch the food she's eating." The girl rolled her eyes. "If you ask me, it's stupid, but who can understand her?"

Lucius sighed. The one he couldn't quite understand was Cissa. Bellatrix wasn't so hard for him to see what she wanted – to be spoiled all the time. The thing he couldn't get was why her younger sister was still doing whatever she told her.

"Cissa, I don't want to ruin your good mood, but seriously. What's going on?" Lucius asked. When he saw that she was about to start with the 'I have no idea what you are talking about' again, he raised a hand to stop her. "No. I want the truth. Really."

Suddenly her smile turned into an exhausted expression and she sighed in desperation. He wasn't surprised. Narcissa had that habit to hide everything she actually felt and let people see only a neutral, sometimes even happy, face. No matter what was happening beneath that mask, she never wanted to reveal it.

"Fine." She whispered and got back on the bed next to him. Lucius remembered that last night Bellatrix told them that she's in the next room – Cissa probably didn't want her to hear. "It's about Bella. She… she's a Death Eater, Lucius."

He was so shocked that he didn't know what to say. It seemed unbearable for his mind to realize what she had just said.

"I know." The girl whispered gently. "She told me two days ago and since then… I do whatever she tells me to. Do I have a choice, really?" Cissa laughed bitterly. "It's also her husband, and his brother, and Nott from school, I guess you remember him, and…"

"Cissa, calm down." Lucius said and stroked her long hair when she pressed her face against his chest. He could hear her quiet sobs.

"I shouldn't tell you." She whispered. "Now she'll find out in your mind and she'll hate me forever… I was supposed to tell no one…"

"She won't." Lucius said, bearing with his shock from the news as fast as he could. "I'm a great Occlument, did you know that?" he felt her shaking her head. "Well, I am. And if I'm not mistaken, so are you." She nodded. "Well, no need to worry, then."

"It's not only that…" Cissa whispered. "I shouldn't tell you… I _promised_, Lucius…"

"I don't think that's so important." He said firmly, still wondering what the problem was after all. "If you didn't tell anyone, you'd get crazy – because of the fear you're holding inside and everything else…. Calm down, Cissa…. It's not a big deal…"

When they got down in the kitchen for breakfast, she seemed at least a bit more comforted.

"What's that?" Bellatrix asked, staring almost with disgust at the food in her plate.

"Eggs and bacon." Cissa answered simply. Lucius tried to hide his smile. Bellatrix glared at her sister.

"But the eggs are fried!"

"Indeed." Narcissa nodded, still calmly taking miniature bites from her breakfast as she always did.

"But you know I can't stand fried food!" Bellatrix shrieked at least. Cissa shrugged.

"Well, that's what I wanted to eat and Lucius didn't actually mind. So eat that or eat nothing. I'm not a house elf."

Lucius felt proud – Cissa was way braver now, even though he knew her well enough to know that she's still quite frightened.

He sighed. Sometimes he wondered what he had done to get a girl like Narcissa – so beautiful _and _so nice and loving. _Simply perfect_, he thought as he stared at her with a slight smile. Yeah. He really didn't deserve her, but he was really happy that she still hadn't realized it, though.

"What are you smirking at, Malfoy?" Bellatrix snapped, frowning at him. Lucius knew that she wasn't able to see how happy he actually was right now – and how proud that his Narcissa was brave enough to confront a Death Eater – even if it was her own sister – without even look scared. So he just gleamed at her older sister, who was still scowling at him.

"Lovely morning, isn't it?"


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's notes: This had to be ready three days ago, but then suddenly, my computer died, so here it is, a bit later. It's shorter than the last few, and I apologize, but I still hope you like it. Reviews are always welcomed.**

**20 – Slytherins are ruthless, especially when playing games.**

"Narcissa!" Lucius growled, annoyed, and she giggled cheerfully, but stopped trying to pull his blond locks up in a knot. He glared at her, looking at her with the corner of his eye, because she was behind him.

They were at the courtyard in Hogwarts, near the lake, and he had let her play with his hair for a while – only because he knew how much she loved doing it. Of course, Cissy had taken the chance to make everything she wanted from it, included some hairstyles he really didn't like. Right now, she was trying to put it in a ponytail.

Andromeda, who had came with them at the lake, giggled too at Lucius' annoyance, and kept writing something – maybe her homework or anything else she had took out to study for her NEWTs – she and Lucius were already seventh-years, of course. Her sister noticed that she was chewing something, and then saw a box near her schoolbag.

"Where did you get these sweets, Andy?" Cissy asked, looking curiously at her sister's lunch. The other girl smiled at her. She was in a really good mood today – only that Narcissa wasn't quite sure why. Almost every time when them three got here, Andromeda was just glaring at Lucius all the time and trying not to talk to him. This was, of course, the main reason why Cissy wanted to make them stay together more – maybe they could get used to each other someday.

"Ted gave them to me. He stole them from the kitchen." She said; a slight, a bit dreamy smile on her lips. Cissy rolled her eyes and tried to ignore Andy's reminding of her new crush – a Gryffindor boy named Ted Tonks that caused millions of fights with their mother, because he was a Muggle-born. Lucius grimaced at the name.

"I wouldn't recommend eating anything that Mud—" he started saying, but Andromeda scowled at him. Narcissa had the feeling that something's going on between them – something she didn't know about.

"I thought we had a deal, Malfoy." Andromeda said, lowering her voice, as if she didn't want her little sister to hear it. But Narcissa, being a girl that spent years slipping into the room of her parents and listening to their conversations when she thought they were talking about something that concerned her – always could see it when someone was trying to hide something from her.

Yet she kept quiet, waiting to see what Lucius would say. His reactions were always pretty unpredictable, but at least, his answer would maybe be able to give her some clue what they were talking about.

"Fine, fine." He growled, avoiding her eyes. He sounded mostly displeased. "But just because we had a deal. Ugh." He said, looking at Andy's parchment roll with disgust. "Your handwriting is dreadful."

Andromeda rolled her eyes and – she couldn't surprise Cissy more – gave the parchment to Lucius along with the quill she was holding. "I don't care. You're writing like a girl anyway, so don't mock _me_ about what kind of handwriting I have. Write your name up there."

Narcissa watched Lucius writing his name on the top of the parchment – she was still behind his back, trying to be almost invisible and hoping she'll be able to get what they were talking about. The words _Lucius Abraxas Malfoy_ were written in his usual elegant handwriting which seemed also a bit pompous, but Cissy had always loved it. When he finished writing, the boy passed the parchment back to her sister.

Andromeda took out her wand and, murmuring some spell that sounded pretty complex and all the words she had written started changing. It was quite strange; Cissy had never seen such a thing before. The letters remained on their places, but they started changing their shape and curling into Lucius' complicated, beautiful handwriting.

"OK, I give up." Narcissa spoke at least when she realized that she won't be able to find out just by looking at them. "What are you doing, Andy?"

"Writing your boyfriend's homework." Her sister said matter-of-factly, still concentrated on the parchment and the changing words. She didn't seem concerned nor angry; it seemed as if she was doing exactly what she was supposed to.

"And why?" Cissy asked; a deep frown passed through her face. Andy despised Lucius with her whole heart. She would never do anything to help him, let alone writing his homework and trying to fake his handwriting for him.

"Because he's a lazy obnoxious pig and won't do it himself." Andromeda said calmly. Narcissa rolled her eyes. Lucius' hands curled into fists, but he didn't say anything.

"No, I mean… why would you do such a thing?" Cissy asked again; her voice expressed her confusion.

"We had a deal that if I write Malfoy's Herbology homework for a month he'll stop calling Ted a Mudblood – or actually, he said he'll stop messing up with him in any way, especially when we're in class together." Andy explained with unease; despite her calm, casual tone Cissy could see her eyes starting to gleam a bit, like if she was trying to hold back her tears.

Narcissa gasped. Lucius seemed to find his shoes pretty interesting right now, because his eyes were determinedly focused on them.

"You didn't!" she exclaimed. Lucius muttered something in response she couldn't hear, but probably it was supposed to be some kind of an apology. "You idiotic git! How could you!" Narcissa continued when he didn't give any sort of sign that he had heard her. "What have I told you about that? Stop being such a pompous little pureblood just for five minutes!" she was almost shouting now. It wasn't much of a problem that he had called someone a Mudblood – she was doing it too often herself – but that he had hurt her sister with doing so. "Get over yourself at least!"

"Well, he's not much of a saint, himself!" Lucius said defensively. "Actually, he offended me first!"

"And what did he say?" Narcissa asked skeptically, still pissed off.

"He called me a snob."

"Well, you _are _one, aren't you?" she said, confused. She was called that sometimes too, but she didn't take it as an offense. It was more like something other people thought they're meant to call them.

"It doesn't matter!" Lucius exclaimed, but he was still avoiding her eyes – she could tell that right now, he wished not to have this exact conversation with her. But she didn't care. "He hadn't the right to say it!"

"You know you're just looking for an excuse to make people feel bad!" Narcissa snapped and Lucius trembled. As soon as she said it, Cissy regretted for her words.

"Thank you for the nice opinion for me." Lucius said sardonically, still not looking at her. Despite his sarcastic tone, she noticed how bitter the words were.

"I'm sorry." The girl whispered. "I didn't mean it… I know you're not like that."

"Sure he isn't!"

Narcissa almost jumped when she heard her sister's voice. Now the tears in Andromeda's eyes were easy to see; her voice showed how hurt she was.

"Andy, I didn't want to…"

"Save it!" Andromeda snapped. "Of course he's not like that; he's always so innocent and nice. Just because he's being like that with you, Cissy, doesn't mean everyone else's got the same luck. Most of the time, he's actually ruthless, cruel and mean. Not that this would shock you. It's not so different from your usual taste."

And with these words, Andromeda threw the parchment at Lucius and stormed out the place they were sitting, leaving them in silence.

"Would I always be forced to choose between the people I love? My family and Dromeda, _you _and Dromeda, or something like that?" Narcissa asked. She wasn't expecting an answer, but Lucius answered her anyway.

"I don't know why you're bothering. She's a waste of time."

Cissy sat next to him, letting him wrap her arms around her and kiss her. Yes, he adored her and yes, he was everything she had wished for. But still, she wasn't sure what part of Andy's words were true.


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's notes: After like half an hour of calculating al the dates, years and everything else (and a few consultations with the Black family tree) I ended up with the conclusion that Narcissa was indeed pregnant when her father passed away. And since I've always liked Cygnus, I tried to make it as good as possible.**

**21 – Slytherins have a hard time giving up on things.**

"Come on, Cissa."

"No."

"Narcissa."

"If you're cold, Lucius, you can always get back inside." Her voice was unbelievably icy; she had almost never spoken to him like that before. "I'm not going to leave now."

"Cissa, please." Lucius said, almost desperate, running the fingers of his hand through his hair. He didn't know what to do in such a situation. He had never seen the death of someone he loved so much. "You can't stand here out in the cold. It's not good for you…. It's not good for the baby." He added quietly. Usually, it was the only thing that could convince her to do something, but now, even that didn't work.

"I don't care." She sobbed; her face once again pressing to the cold stone before her. Lucius kneeled next to her, unsure what to do. She was taking this the worst way possible. He looked at her sisters; Bellatrix and Andromeda were standing at the door of the Manor and had a quiet conversation. This was strange enough, because any other day they wouldn't be caught dead talking to each other, but it was nothing compared to Cissy's nervous breakdown.

He tried to pull her up, but Narcissa was just laying on the tomb, refusing to let go of it; her hair falling all over her face, her whole body trembling, for she was dressed only in a black corseted dress and it was the darkest, coldest winter they've seen from years.

"Cissa, please." Lucius repeated, stroking her long platinum hair and taking her into his embrace. She squeezed her eyes shut and trembled once again. Lucius hoped that his hold was warm enough to protect her from the storm just as much as him . "You can't bring him back."

That seemed to be too much for her. Cissa started crying even more than before; she wrapped her arms tightly around him, as if she was afraid that she would fall again in the hole she was in the last few days. Her father had passed away just a week ago and Lucius had never seen his wife so crestfallen before.

"I'm just g-glad he saw me getting m-married." She whispered, still trembling and her tears still falling down her face. "H-he was so b-blissful to see a-all of his daughters h-happy. I just loved him s-so much, Lucius, you can't even imagine…. He was the greatest m-man ever born… I can't let him go, Lucius… I can't…"

Lucius sat on the ground, already without caring about the snow or how cold it was, still holding her and stroking her hair, whispering words of comfort as the snow kept falling over them, taking away Narcissa's whispered words.

* * *

"How is she?" Lucius asked quietly as he walked to Bellatrix's room. The house was unusually quiet; there were no house elves roaming around, no shouting from the black sisters' mother who always commanded them for something, no sound from Cygnus' printing machine at the other end of the hallway. The Black Manor seemed almost inhabited. "Anything new?"

The woman shook her head. Even her expression was tired and desperate now; usually she always managed to look bored and unimpressed.

"Nothing." She murmured. "I tried many things… But I can't make her get better if she doesn't want to."

"Do you think… There's any possibility…" he was too afraid to even mention it. Bellatrix's face contorted into an expression of pure anger. She approached him and grabbed the collar of his shirt.

"She's not going to die. Don't even think about it. Don't even dare to think about it, Malfoy." She hissed. Lucius nodded hastily. It was an easy thing to do, not thinking about such a possibility. He didn't want to make the thought even pierce through his mind.

He was stuck in the Black manor for three days already, due to the winter storm raging outside. He could just Apparate to his house if it was for that, but it was impossible to take Narcissa right now. She had a terrible fever.

It started out as a mere cold. It was logical for her to have a cold; she had stayed out in the snow, kneeling on the marble of her father's grave for hours. She was probably also in shock; that was why she didn't eat or drink anything. She didn't even talk. She was just staying in her old room, where she had lived in her childhood and school years, and stared through the window. But later, it started getting worse.

Her eyes started sparkling unhealthily, her face got even paler than before. Narcissa started getting tired faster – she spoke even more rarely than before, her voice quieter and her whole behavior seemed like if she was always distracted from something. The other two women, who had already given birth, said it was because of the pregnancy, but soon it became clear that it wasn't. And when Lucius had already convinced her to take her to _St. Mungo's_, she seemed too weak already – or at least, too weak to be taken outside and surely too fragile to Apparate.

And now, Lucius was entering her room for the millionth time, like it would change a thing. He sat on the corner of her bed, looking around the room he had been in so many times through the years. The place was so familiar that it seemed almost like the room was his own – he knew every small detail from it. The giant fireplace, taking half of the front wall, and the wooden door next to it. The family portrait – of Narcissa, her parents and her sisters – right on top of the fireplace, always illuminated by the sun through the windows on the opposite wall, the lighted fire or the candles on the chandelier. The silky baldachin and the four-poster bed under it. The nightstand right to the bed that always held Narcissa's most appreciated possessions. It was all more like a world of her own he was sometimes allowed to enter.

Right now, Cissa was sleeping in her bed, covered with many blankets. She was murmuring something Lucius couldn't catch.

"Cissa?" he said softly, touching her cheek. "Can you hear me?"

She opened her eyes and searched for him, trying to focus. She stared at his hair and smiled tiredly.

"Dad?" Narcissa whispered. Her voice was croaky; she had barely talked for the last few days. And still, she sounded really strange – really young also. Her voice was as high and clear as always, but now she sounded like a little girl. "Is that you?"

That was what truly scared Lucius. Was she just having hallucinations from the fever or something like that…. Or was it something worse? What if Bellatrix was wrong and things were actually much graver than the seemed?

Then, after a few moments, Lucius remembered that Cygnus had the same hair color as him. His eyes started stinging a bit. It was probably easy to confuse him for her father.

"No… it's me, Cissa." He managed to say.

"Oh, Lucius." she reached for his hand and held it tightly in hers. "You're always here to help me and… I know I'm barely able to do anything the last days. I don't even know why you're still here for me when I don't even bother pay attention to anything anymore. I love you."

"I love you too, Cissa. But please try to fight with that… weakness." Lucius said. He was still concerned; what she said didn't sound really related. No matter how gently he tried to sound, he realized that his tone was a bit judging. "I was – and still am – really scared for you."

"Why?" Narcissa frowned and sat up in the bed, reaching for the glass of water he had brought with him in the room in case she wakes up. "For how long I've been unconscious?"

"Three days." Lucius murmured. He was so relieved that she was better now that he couldn't be mad at her for scaring him so bad.

Narcissa's eyes widened in shock.

"_Three days? _Merlin, Lucius, I'm so sorry. You must be feeling horrible, being stuck here with these two hysterical women I have for sisters. Let's go now…" she tried to stand up, but Lucius gently pushed her back.

"No." he said firmly. "Not yet. You're still too weak. Stay where you are."

"Will you stay here, please?" Narcissa asked quietly. I don't want to… get like that again."

"Of course I'll stay." Lucius said and sat on the bed as she fell asleep once again. Looking at the snow still falling outside unceasingly, Lucius wondered if she would ever be able to truly get over the loss she had experienced.


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's notes: This got a bit longer than expected… anyway, Druella's a really tough character for a narrator, and I don't really like her in general, but unfortunately, I needed her here.**

**I hope you guys like it and let me know what you think! I see people favoriting and following the story and that makes me really happy, but it's always great to hear somebody's opinion.**

**22 – Slytherins can charm people to get what they want.**

Druella trembled – for Merlin knows which time already – when someone suddenly entered the room unceremoniously, but then she tried to relax and leaned back in her chair, getting back to the murderous stare at the opposite wall. It was just Rodolphus.

"Hey, Bella!" he greeted the girl and sat next to her without even asking – and without greeting anyone else in the room. Druella glared at them as Bellatrix raised from the place where she sat and kissed him on the cheek – no matter how adorable they were together, she didn't want him to do whatever he wanted in her house.

"As much as I respect you, Rodolphus, I must ask you not to invade the room like that." she said as politely as she could. Today, every knocking on the door was stressing her a bit, for it was a day when she waited for one particular visit. "I'm... under pressure today."

"Mother's having a heart attack every time when someone comes here today." Andromeda said matter-of-factly, raising her head from the book she was reading on the couch. "We'll be visited by the almighty Abraxas Malfoy and his precious son." Bellatrix laughed airly and took the cigarette Rodolphus offered her. Narcissa chucked delicately and continued playing something on the piano - from what the woman could hear, it was Beethoven's Symphony № 41 - 'Menuetto', to be specific.

"Stop acting like teenagers. Bellatrix, I told you to not to smoke. You're almost 20 years old. You should become the lady you're supposed to be already." Druella sneered at such an immature reaction. A soft sigh came from behind Andromeda's book.

"Maybe we act so because we are teenagers, Mother." she said. It was true, sort of. Narcissa was 16 and Andromeda - 17. And yet, it wasn't an excuse. Cygnus was giving them too much freedom - and for too long time too. They needed to be controled.

"Why are the Malfoys visiting you?" Rodolphus asked and sat next to Bellatrix in her armchair. The girl snorted, but let him sit where he did. Following his fiancée's example, he lighted a cigarette. "I thought that the twin girls are too young and Meliora is already engaged to my brother."

"Yes, but they are coming for Lucius. Obviously." Narcissa said quietly without ceasing the melody she was playing. "Today we'll find who's the lucky girl to get him - Andy or me."

All the three sisters - and Rodolpuhs also - bursted out laughing at that - but just after a second, Andromeda returned to her book - she wasn't really amused by the possibility to be Lucius Malfoy's bethroned. Druella hid her face in her hands. This was going really bad.

"Andromeda, go in your room and dress yourself up." she ordered. Narcissa was dressed in a beige satin dress with bare shoulders and a corset, accompanied by the fitting ribbon in her long blond hair. Druella smiled. At least she would make a good impression. She was becoming a real lady day by day.

This time, when someone knocked on the front door, Druella knew that it wasn't a false alert this time. She rose up from her chair and went to welcome the guests.

Abraxas Malfoy was standing outside, in dress robes – Druella would never understand why this man felt the need to wear them everywhere – and his son next to him, wearing a rather bored or tired expression.

"Good morning, Mrs. Black!" Abraxas said, kissing the fingertips of her hand and smiling in that cold way of his that always made her wonder what he's actually thinking. "It's, as always, a real pleasure… I came to see you and your lovely daughters, just as it has been planned."

While they talked, Druella saw with the corner of her eye Lucius disappearing from the door and running into the house. Once he had been set free from his father's eye sight, the woman heard the piano playing ceasing immediately. She pursed her lips. Narcissa had seen him.

"Of course, Mr. Malfoy." Druella said and let him into the house with a slight, polite smile. She had to look as modest as she could because… well, that's the way it had to be. "Here, they're back in the living room…" As they walked in, Abraxas looked all around them, which made Druella pretty nervous. No matter how beautiful the Black Manor was, she didn't like when someone was investigating the house like that.

The adults sat on the couch in the far end of the room and Mr. Malfoy stared studyingly at the two girls. Druella felt the sudden need to disappear when she saw her daughters.

Bellatrix was still sitting in the armchair with Rodolphus – who had just leaned on the arm of it – and they were giggling at something, still smoking their cigarettes. Narcissa was having a quiet conversation with Lucius which would be rather relieving if he wasn't lying on the sofa with his head in her lap. Andromeda was missing.

Druella saw that Abraxas glaring at his son. Lucius just looked at him, his expression more amused than ashamed, and then looked up at Narcissa and told her something that made her laugh quietly.

"Well, I assume the blond one is Narcissa?" Abraxas asked, probably trying to distract himself from the sight; one brow furrowed as he was looking at the girl. Druella glanced at him, surprised.

"You haven't seen them before, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I have." He said. "But when they were still kids. I recognized her just because of the blond hair. Back then, she was probably seven or so… Even then she was a pretty little thing, though, but now Lucius won't even stop talking about her when he's home. He seems enchanted by her."

Druella pursed her lips, displeased. Even though she didn't find Narcissa of any good use, she didn't fancy having her daughter called 'a pretty little thing'.

"Well, they are… together for almost two years already." She said, trying to mask that she was grinding her teeth. "Everyone says that they're making a lovely couple. That's why I think that she would be better for your son, Mr. Malfoy." Druella added hastily. "Andromeda… probably isn't exactly Lucius' cup of tea."

"Andromeda…. She's that one there, isn't she?" Abraxas asked, gesturing at Bellatrix. Druella shook her head.

"No, this is Bellatrix. Andromeda is supposed to be here any minute." The mother of the said girl was absolutely sure that her daughter wasn't busy right now and was just sitting in her room, trying to avoid the meeting with the Malfoys. It would be pretty typical for her.

"How does she look like?" the man asked curiously. "Andromeda?"

"Pretty much like Bellatrix." Druella admitted. "Her hair is a bit lighter and her eyes too, but in anything else, they're really alike." She didn't know what to think of all these questions. Did it matter how Andromeda looked? Probably yes. Only the best for his son.

"Well, to be honest, I preferred Andromeda over Narcissa. Narcissa seems a bit childish to me; I'm not sure if she'd be able to raise my son's heir as she should. But, from what I've heard, Andromeda is… for the lack of a better word… _dating _another boy?" Abraxas asked a bit absently, looking at his fire whiskey. Druella had to fight the urge to snap at him once again.

"Surely you've heard right, Mr. Malfoy." She managed to say. "But it's nothing serious; I can make her give up from him any second."

_No, I can't. And it is serious. But I won't let her stain the family's honor anymore. She's going to give up from the Mudblood, or she's getting disowned. No matter what Cygnus says._

"You see, Mrs. Black, the problem is that I simply can't force Lucius to look at Andromeda like at a future wife of his. He does not even want to hear about it. I had a really unfortunate conversation with him yesterday when we were planning to come here to see you and he said that he's not going to marry her and it doesn't matter what I say about that." Abraxas fell silent and Druella could tell how upset he was. Probably he wasn't used to be disobeyed.

"The younger one over there." The man said, nodding at Narcissa, still sitting with Lucius on a few feet away from them. "Did she have any other suitors before?"

"No, not really." Druella answered carefully. The question itself was a bit catchy. If she said no, he would think that there was a reason for that. If she was to say yes, he would think that they're changing her suitor every day. "Rabastan Lestrange was an option, so was Tony Rosier, the younger brother of Evan. But she had never had a suitor. We thought that she's too young for that yet."

"And so she is." Abraxas admitted. "As well as Andromeda. This decision we make today won't be final, but I want to be sure that our family would be linked to the Blacks one day." The man sighed rather tiredly. "The problem, Mrs. Black, is that it's… quite… _apparent _that Lucius favors your youngest daughter."

Druella followed Abraxas' poisonous stare and barely hold her gasp at the sight that was exposed before her eyes.

Lucius was now sitting next to her daughter – his arms wrapped all around her – and as much as Druella could see, Narcissa kissed his neck gently. Lucius smirked, glanced at his father and then looked back at the girl in his arms, almost purring in contentment.

Druella wasn't stupid and knew that the two teenagers weren't that brainless too. Lucius was doing this on purpose, trying to piss off his father. And it was obviously working, because the man growled.

"Forgive me, Madam." He said as calmly as he could. "I'm afraid that my son thinks that if he's able to_ prove_ me that he can do whatever he wants, he'll take what he desires right now. But…"

"No, it's fine." Druella interrupted him. "I'm sure it is her fault. Narcissa!" she snapped as she approached them. The girl glanced back at her questioningly. "You're embarrassing yourself! It is inappropriate for a young lady to show affection in such a way…"

"Excuse me, Mrs. Black, but I think you're wrong."

The voice that spoke was quiet and polite, yet a bit cold and really powerful. She had heard it for the last time when its owner was still eight-year-old. Druella turned back at Lucius. It was the first time today that he said a word directly to her.

"I beg your pardon?"

The boy smiled at her a bit shyly.

"You said that it's inappropriate for a young lady to act like that, but do let me disagree."

His manners were just perfect; she had to admit that. Obviously her cousin Abril had raised him as a real gentleman. Druella raised an eyebrow skeptically – a sign that he can keep talking.

"I think that it's a charming quality of her to express her feelings." He said, squeezing Narcissa's hand in his as if to encourage her not to fear her mother. Probably he had a reason to do it, though; Druella realized that her youngest daughter was still looking at her with her big blue eyes wide open. The woman felt her lips curling into a slight smile. Maybe he wasn't that bad after all. "Actually, I think that this is a general feature for the next Lady Malfoy to be sensitive."

Even Rodolphus and Bellatrix, who ignored them relentlessly till now, looked at Lucius, amazed from his words. Narcissa seemed positively impressed. Abraxas' hands had curled into fists as he kept glaring at his son.

"Well, let's get straight to the word." Druella murmured.

She sighed, already giving up. Maybe he was pretentious and she definitely didn't like him. But even Cygnus had to admit – and he _despised _the boy because he hated someone near his precious little princess – that he'd be able to take care of her.

Of course, Druella thought, there was a chance that Lucius was just tricking them all to get what he wanted. But at least he was good enough in it to be a decent candidate for her daughter.


	23. Chapter 23

**Author's notes: Not a very good one, I know, but I was in such a mood, so… well.**

**Oh, by the way, the mentioned Aethonan is described here as in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" (J. K. Rowling, published by Bloomsbury, 2009 edition).**

**23 – Slytherins overthink nearly everything.**

Cissy sneaked out of the dormitory when she was sure that all her roommates were already sleeping. She had a pretty exhausting conversation with Meliora for almost two hours, and thanks Merlin that the other girl had felt asleep at least. And Narcissa didn't want to wake anyone from her friends. They would ask so many questions that she wouldn't be able to make it in time.

She sighed in irritation. They could've simply met in the Slytherin common room, but no – he had to have them both sneaking out to the Astronomy tower at midnight for no apparent reason. Narcissa could have refused, of course. But she felt that this time, it was… different. Lucius didn't want her to go there for something stupid. She didn't know how, but she was sure.

It was the late September; the first month from Narcissa's sixth year in Hogwarts. Lucius had sent her a note today – Rowena gave it to her after she swore that she hadn't read it – that he would like her to meet him in the Astronomy tower at midnight this evening, which was quite unusual. Usually, he unceremoniously entered her dormitory – though someone had told her that soon there would be charms placed on the girls' dormitories and the boys wouldn't be able to enter – and take her out the castle. He was sort of a friend for her, but she was inexplicably excited tonight. Maybe something would change. Or at least she hoped that it would.

In the last half a month, Cissy was analyzing every little thing she felt for him – no matter how unimportant it seemed. She wasn't sure if she was in love with him – it seemed as a big deal to her to say that – or if he was just one of her closest friends. But she had to know.

Luckily enough, she didn't get caught – or, maybe even better – didn't meet anyone she knew on her way to the tower. As soon as she climbed the staircase up to it, anyway, and pushed softly the already unlocked door, she stopped dead where she stood.

Lucius was already there, as expected, but the normal things about the situation ended up there. He was stroking calmly the back of a winged horse – and Aethonan, if Narcissa wasn't mistaken. All she knew about it was that it was widely known in Britain (though it was really hard to get one) and that it had chestnut hair. She saw the boy muttering something, and after a second, the horse disappeared – he had cast a Disillusionment charm up on it.

"Lucius." The girl managed to whisper as the horse disappeared from her sight. She was sort of disappointed that it was gone, though; it was very beautiful and she had never seen another one before.

Lucius turned back, surprised, and then approached her with a cheerful smile, as though he was doing something quite casual and that it had nothing special about taking your flying horse inside your school.

"Hey, Cissa. You like Serpent?"

"Serpent?" Narcissa asked and raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Please tell me you didn't leave the school to take him here, Lucius. It would be such an absurd if you get expelled in your last year at Hogwarts!" she exclaimed.

Lucius chuckled quietly.

"No, I didn't. He came to me by himself. They can be strongly connected to their owner." He explained. He seemed quite proud with having a winged horse, Narcissa noticed.

"Where'd you get him from?" she asked.

"Father gave him to me when I was still a child. You don't want to know anything more for how and where exactly he got it from, I suppose."

As much as she was aware of the Malfoys' way of life and their determination to have whatever they wanted – no matter if the had to take it, if it was allowed or even legal, he was most likely right about that one.

"I'm glad you came here, Cissa." Lucius said softly, then started playing with a strand of her hair and kept talking with a slight smile on his lips as he examined her closely. "You know, on the moonlight you look a bit like a... Partonus. You're just so… _silver_…"

Cissy laughed quietly at the last comment. Probably it was true, though. Her hair and her skin were both silver-like, though it wasn't as bright as the color of his eyes. But tonight, even the dress she was wearing was in pearly white, which made her look like she's made of the moonlight that illuminated the whole school yard down in the distance.

"What's your Partonus, by the way?" she asked curiously, distracting herself from her thoughts.

For her great surprise, Lucius – the confident, self-important Lucius – mumbled something she couldn't hear, blushed and looked down, avoiding her eyes. She was seeing him act like that for the first time; usually nobody could close his mouth if he was to say something.

"What?" she asked, her smile getting bigger. It was a really rare thing for him to be shy; actually, he was never shy. And a Partonus couldn't be something that embarrassing, could it? "Come on, tell me!"

"I… a peacock." He admitted, still trying not to meet her eyes. But the girl could see half of his face on the full moon that gleamed on the sky – he was now blushing even more furiously than a minute ago.

Narcissa burst into laughter. As much as she was trying not to, she just couldn't resist. "Suits you perfectly!"

"What's yours, then?" Lucius asked, seeming offended, even though he couldn't hide his smile too. She suspected that he actually enjoyed it when she mocked him about being a bit pretentious.

"A swan." Narcissa said, still trying to hold back her laugh. A peacock. What a fitting Partonus for a person like him indeed, she thought, as she looked at his always-flawless appearance he tried so hard to keep – and succeeded. He was just as concerned and proud for his looks as a peacock. "Well, you must admit that the Partonus always resembles the personality…"

"Don't use it against me." He warned her.

When they fell silent again, he suddenly locked his eyes with hers, hesitatingly taking her hands in his palms and bringing her closer to him.

Hadn't she realized how breath-taking he was before? Those silver eyes, silky platinum hair reflecting the moon and the tall, lithe figure? Of course she had seen it before. But she couldn't admit – _shouldn't_ admit – even to herself that she was actually head over heels for him.

What seemed the most amazing of all, though, was the fact that he seemed just as astonished from her – his eyes wide open, his hands still not letting go of hers. And he was looking at her like that from years ago – since they first met, maybe. She wanted to say something to break the silence – which would probably be a bad idea, because she was extremely nervous, and she would most likely say something stupid. But before she could do anything, he kissed her.

The kiss was soft and gentle; something she had rather expected from him. She felt his cold, big hands on the small of her back as she kissed him too, and she shivered unintentionally – from both the cold night wind and from the emotions she was basically drowning in, only half aware that she wasn't dreaming.

When they broke the kiss, Lucius beamed at her. He seemed so happy; Narcissa had never seen such an honest, _real _smile as the one curling his lips now. She heard a soft sigh of relief as he took her in his embrace, now seemingly more confident about it.

There were no other words; they didn't say anything more. His eyes told her everything she needed to see – it were her own feelings, for now she was sure that there _was _something special she felt; he wasn't just a friend she had thought about in a romantic way. It was really something more.

"I suppose you'll have to go now, Cissa." Lucius said finally, though it was obvious that he didn't want her to leave – even his voice showed it. "You'd be tired tomorrow in your classes if I keep you here now." He added hastily, maybe afraid that she had misunderstood him.

"I'm not that fragile, Lucius." She said gently, but hesitated. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do now. Everything her mother had taught her told her to go back to her dormitory and forget about the kiss and about their meeting here at all – a young woman of her rang wasn't supposed to wander at the school at night, especially with a boy. But her own mind told her that she had to stay. Simply because she didn't want to leave.

"Well…." She murmured finally. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?" It came out as a question and it was one; she was tearing apart between what she had to do and what she wanted to.

Lucius smiled once again at her with a sly glint in his eyes.

"No." He whispered a spell and Serpent – the Aethonan – appeared once again. Lucius took Narcissa's hand and approached the winged horse, helping her sit on its back as her shock increased. "Now I'm taking you for a walk."


	24. Chapter 24

**Author's notes: *deep breath* I'm so, so, so sorry for the delay! This was meant to be written ages ago, but I was on a holiday on the seaside without internet and I couldn't upload anything. I really hope you liked this one here.**

* * *

**24 – Slytherins dislike small talk, but enjoy talking in depth about subjects that matter to them.**

"So how are you lately?"

Only his father's teachings stopped Lucius from abandoning the witch he was dancing with – abandoning her there and then and finding something better to do. But instead, he managed a very tight smile. "Lovely." He answered through gritted teeth. "How about you?"

Apparently unaware of how bored Lucius was, the girl – her name was Diana, if he remembered it correctly – started talking again.

He was, once again, forced to attend the gatherings of some sort, held by his parents basically every week. Social events like that had always bored Lucius, but at least his mother had an excuse to throw this party – a pathetic one, but still an excuse – it was Lucius's graduation after his last, seventh year at Hogwarts, with almost perfect NEWTs. So the spotlight, unfortunately, was on him.

Said girl he was holding and dancing with right now was also a pureblood, from a noble family – some third or forth cousin of his, a Yaxley – and Abraxas had told him – actually, had _commanded_ him – to pay some attention to her and to stop 'playing around with the Black girl for a whole day'.

Ah, Narcissa. She would be such a blessing for him right now. She was way, way better than Diana Yaxley – Lucius was never bored when Cissa was around. She had a sense of humor similar to his; she was smart and had the same opinion as his most of the time. And he always knew what to talk about when he was with her.

"However," the boy said, desperately trying to distract himself from his annoyance and also to distract the girl from her telling him more about how many hours she needed to buy a new dress last week. "I think I need to go and take a drink. Will you?" he asked, reaching for her hand.

Diana looked up at him confusedly, then seemed to get the point and, giggling quietly, took his hand and let him lead her through the ballroom of Malfoy Manor. Lucius rolled his eyes – she obviously hadn't even the slightest idea of the manners of the high class – but didn't let her see him. He didn't want to be rude. His mother would kill him if he offended the girl in any way.

"The weather's nice for this time from the year, isn't it?" Diana asked as soon as they sat on two chairs near the front doors of the Manor, watching as many other couples danced in the middle of the hall. "Quite so." Lucius answered curtly, not bothering to continue the topic, but his interlocutor wouldn't let him get out of this so easily. "So, what job were you thinking about getting now, when you've finished school?" she asked.

_Oh Salazar, save me._

This was one of the reasons why Lucius hated these parties so much. He couldn't have a proper conversation with anybody. Only talking about such things as the weather or one's future plans was considered appropriate enough. It was all nonsense and that was why the boy tried to avoid said conversations as much as possible. But there were times when he got even more annoyed at all these pointless discussions of things he certainly didn't care for.

Maybe the problem was in him, though. Half of the girls he was going out with since he was fourteen didn't understand a word of what he was saying to them – he wasn't sure why they were with him at all. Lucius was well aware of the fact that he was good-looking and, well, he was also rich and pureblood and also all of the things most girls seemed to consider important in their boyfriends, but that wasn't the only thing that kept them around, was it? What if actually _he _was the stupid one for not being able to have a normal, nonchalant talk with a girl? Maybe he was losing his touch.

Somewhere by the time he had already finished his drink, Lucius knew that no matter how well-mannered he was, he couldn't survive even for a few more minutes of having a conversation with this girl – it didn't even matter whose fault it was anymore. He excused himself as politely as he could and left her where she stood.

Slowly, but determinedly, Lucius made his way through the hall and spotted Sean Parkinson and Evan Rosier, but decided to ignore them at least for a while – they were some kind of friends of him, but he needed to prove himself that he could talk to a girl if he wanted to – especially if it was a girl he liked and respected.

"Mind if I cut in?" he asked when he approached Narcissa, who was currently dancing with Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Sure." The other boy shrugged (and tried to switch to Bellatrix who, much to his misfortune, ignored him completely) and Lucius took his place immediately. Narcissa raised an eyebrow questioningly at him.

"I thought you were supposed to spend time with someone else except me tonight?" she asked. Lucius's eyes widened. "Why, don't you want me to be here?" he asked, suddenly worried – his doubts from a few minutes ago seemed to have returned.

Narcissa laughed.

"Of course I want you to be here, Lucius." She said as they heard a new song and Lucius leaded her into the dance. "I just thought that your father wanted you to spend some time with your relatives."

Lucius snorted and looked at the far end of the hall where Abraxas and Abril Malfoy were standing and talking to another couple. He could see his mother going near the Blacks and starting a conversation with Druella. Lucius knew that they had spent most of the time in their childhood together and they were very close.

"You're my relative as much as this idiot girl I was forced to talk to until recently." He answered, distracting himself from the two women. "Come out on the balcony with me, will you, Cissa?" he asked. "It's too crowded here, and there we will still be able to hear the music."

Narcissa nodded soundlessly and let him lead her out of the hall, in the breezy night that reigned outside. Now Lucius noted how stunning she was today - not that it was any change from her usual appearance, of course. She was wearing a corseted dress, dark green and falling down to her knees. There was the usual ribbon she always wore in her hair, now formed into a ponytail - he knew that she didn't like letting her hair falling down her shoulders when it was straight and especially when she was wearing such a dress. And yet, the ponytail was a change from her soft ringlets her silky golden hair was formed in the last time he had seen her on a social event - on her sister's engagement.

The Manor looked like it had come out of a fairytale at night and it was perfectly fitting to the sight in front of the boy's eyes - Narcissa was looking like the lady of the castle.. Lucius had liked that since he was a child; the two not too tall towers on the two ends of the building, the lake with the swans in the distance where the wards that protected the house were, the granite fence, almost 12 feet tall, the stone surface with the benches near the fountains and the forest that sometimes seemed endless to him. He knew that his ancestors had came here with the army of William the Conqueror from France – Armand Malfoy had came here, in Wiltshire, and married Elizabeth Black. He had heard this story from his father so many times that he knew it by heart.

And since this moment, so many years ago, this house was here.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Narcissa whispered softly. Lucius trembled slightly – he was so lost in his thoughts that he had almost forgotten where he was right now. "This whole place - it's almost unbelievable that it was in possession of your family for centuries. Can you tell me about it?"

It was as if she was reading his thoughts. He wasn't sure if he was talking about the Manor or his family, so he told her everything he knew about both. Lucius was a good storyteller – and generally a good orator – so he enjoyed telling her in a small voice the long story of the almost, what, nine? centuries that his family was here from.

In his striveness to impress her, he was giving all of himself to tell as much as he could. Even when their dance was over, they sat on the handrail on the balcony and he kept talking. The whole story of his family Lucius managed to tell in a gentle whisper that was almost silenced by the wind around them - how his forefathers had come to England so many years ago and had taken over the small town and built the Manor here; he even told her a few stories that he was quite ashamed of - including his grandfathers and great-grandfathers trading money and jewellery with Muggles before the Statute of Secrecy, when all the Malfoys had swore that they had never interacted any way near Muggles at all. He was way more attentive; now that he was talking to his Narcissa he couldn't allow himself saying something wrong or even something out of place. He was choosing every word very carefully and he could only hope that the silence - the only reaction coming from the girl sitting next to him - was a good sign.

When he finished his story, Lucius dared to look at her.

Narcissa wasn't looking at him anymore - she had lost her smile and now was staring down in the garden. She wore a more thoughtful expression than Lucius had seen on her face; she didn't react at the silence coming from him. "Cissa?" he said carefully. "What... what do you think?" he asked awkwardly.

"It's amazing." she murmured, still half-absently, as if she was still lost in the history of his family; something he considered so usual and something that had apparently affected her so much. "Everything that you told me. In some sort, it resembles the history of my family, but... not so... stained."

Lucius wasn't sure how to react to that - and actually, all that mattered now was that he had impressed her so much. "I... I'm glad you liked it." he said rather the problem wasn't in him - he couldn't believe he was thinking about this now, but still. He was able to have a normal conversation if he wanted to - he could tell by the look in Narcissa's crystal blue eyes.

"Let's get in." he murmured after a while. "It's getting cold out here." Lucius took her hand and they returned back to the hall, out of their fairytale, out of the magic that he had seemed to create with his words.

Lucius smirked slightly when Narcissa started with the 'oh, come on, Lucius, just one more dance' again. He didn't need a girl that could listen to him or entertain him in any other way. She was enough for him in any single aspect.


	25. Chapter 25

**Author's notes: Sorry for the bad ending of this one but I had no idea how exactly to finish the chapter, and I'm also half-dead while writing this.**

**Again, there's a too long description of the Malfoy Manor (this time inside of it), but I'm just inspired for that because of one castle I soon visited and also looked/felt pretty much like I've always imagined the Manor (really, they even had white peacocks!). But this is the last chapter (for now) taking place in the Malfoys's place, I promise! **

**However, I hope you enjoy the chapter and reviews are – again – always welcome.**

**25 – Slytherins fear failure.**

"Welcome." Lucius said with a bright, almost cheerful smile as he leaded her in Malfoy Manor. She shivered. It was a few days before their wedding and he wanted to show her the place. Narcissa had been in here before, but never alone - she had been here once when she was still a child and she barely remembered it. Later, she had came here only on balls and parties, but never when the house was empty - it wasn't as if she didn't want to see the Manor, but, of course, it would seem extremely inappropriate to everyone if she was to go in her future husband's home all alone with him.

_This is not a home_. That was the first thought crossing her mind at all when she entered the building and had the chance to glance around. It wasn't even near the word 'home' in any way. Even the Black Manor, with its hundreds - perhaps literally - of empty bedrooms and chambers was a bit warmer and welcoming that this house. Cissy couldn't imagine how exactly she would spend the rest of her life here. The mere thought made her shudder again.

_Don't be stupid,_ she told herself firmly. She loved Lucius. She had wanted this wedding; if there was any problem with it, she could have easily married someone else. There were many people she could have been given to - Mathias Greengrass, Sean Parkinson, Theodore Nott... the possibilities were countless. Her father had asked her about a million times if she was sure about that before letting Druella and Mrs. Malfoy to start organising a wedding. It was her own choice to marry him - she was certain that she wanted to spend her life with him. And there was no repugnant house that would make her change her mind.

And yet, Malfoy Manor was a dark, cold, lonely place; she hadn't seen Abraxas or Abril Malfoy today yet, and she wondered where they had gone - their presence would add at least some better air to the whole place. Cissy held Lucius's hand as tightly as she could while they passed through the hallway - it was full of only Merlin knows how much generations Malfoys staring down at her from the portraits on the walls.

"Where are your parents?" Narcissa asked quietly. Lucius raised an eyebrow.

"I decided that it would be better if they're not around to look at you all the time like you're something good to buy. Do you need them now?"

"No, I was just wondering…" her voice died. She couldn't tell him that the house was scaring her a bit, of course. It would be rude – incredibly rude, especially after he had came to Black Manor so many times for her just because she didn't want to be alone on the family dinners. And he had always been so nice to her relatives, even though most of the time they did not deserve it.

So she just fell silent again and didn't even finish her sentence.

It was interesting to be in here, from the point of view of something like a tourist; the only thing ruining the experience was the knowledge that Narcissa was to spend here the rest of her life. In any other way, it would be very pleasant experience. There were rooms that stunned her with their delicate beauty; ones that she was sure were designed by women. One of those was Mr and Mrs Malfoy's bedroom – it was light and the furniture was way smaller and not so impressive than in the other rooms. Maybe Abril Malfoy didn't like the Baroque style which was basically everywhere else in the house.

There were other rooms where Cissy had the chance to realise that they were not alone in Malfoy Manor even for a second. In the kitchen, for example, there were at least fifteen house elves running around in some sort of well-organised chaos. Everyone was doing something in here and when Lucius asked them questions (Narcissa noted how often he was mistaking their names, but she couldn't blame him – they looked all the same), they answered with either 'preparing the food' or 'getting the decoration. She supposed that they were getting ready for the wedding too. Even some of the elves of the Black family were around to help – it was obviously a lot of work.

"What do you think?" Lucius asked her impatiently when she didn't say a thing again. They were currently in the library, which could beat even the Hogwarts one by size and, even since she was quite impressed by it, Cissy still couldn't accept the whole place as something she would call 'home' – not now, but ever.

"Well..." Narcissa cleared her throat delicately and then decided that it would be the best to be honest. "I'll get used to it."

He didn't seem very content with her answer – she could tell by the way he pursed his lips and his nostrils flared – but kept talking about the Manor anyway as they walked through it and he stopped on every few seconds to show her something more.

"All right, we have Floo network here" he said when they reached the dining room, which had a big stone fireplace in it. The table was too big, in Narcissa's opinion – she wasn't sure that it was needed for only two people at a time sitting on it. "But it's only inside-out. There's basically no magical way you can get in here - except with a portkey, but a portkey would mean that someone in the Manor knows that you're coming. You can Apparate somewhere before the gates of the garden, because I tried to Apparate in the yard once and it really didn't go very well." Lucius let out a nervous laugh. "Here's our bedroom." he said as they reached the second floor and stopped in front of a big oak door.

At least there was something in this house Narcissa was eager to see - and she hoped that it wouldn't disappoint her. Back at home, her room was her most appreciated place and she wouldn't be able to live if there was even one thing wrong in her new room - especially one she was supposed to be sharing with her future husband. Much to her relief, however, the bedroom was every bit as she had imagined it.

It was big - if Andromeda were here, she would say that it was 'obnoxiously' big, but when it came to Cissy's standards, it was a perfect size for a couple to live in it. The wallpapers were dark brown with small blood red ornaments on them. There was a thick carpet on the floor; quite the ground the young woman was used to walk upon. The windows were also big - not exactly what Narcissa's mother sometimes called 'French windows', but it was pretty close to that. The drapes were black - which she found useful enough, because what does one need drapes for if they can't hide the sun early in the morning?

"Bathroom?" she asked. Lucius solely nodded to another wooden door on the left side of the room. "The wardrobe - which is probably the next thing you'll ask for" he added, smiling at her warmly (which immediately made her guilty – again – for not liking his home enough). "is the room next to this one. Mrs. Black - your mother, I mean - said that your clothes will be send here tomorrow along with almost everything else you possess, which goes also to everything you will need for the wedding in Saturday - including your dress, shoes, bag, make-up and your sisters."

Lucius addressing her sisters as things needed for the wedding was something familiar – she knew how much he disliked them and his usual sense of humour cheered her a bit. Narcissa laughed quietly, sitting down on the large bed.

"It's amazing, Lucius." She said as he approached her and sat next to her. She stared at the colours that dominated in the room – it was all brown and red, but she could spot some dark green here and there – she knew it was Lucius's favourite colour. "Is this your room?"

He shook his head.

"No. We have this tradition here – my room remains… well, my room – nobody gets to live in there, and when I get married, my parents give us one of the way too many unused bedrooms in the Manor. So… nobody had been here. It's brand new, just for us."

She nodded slowly; she appreciated this. Maybe something that was decorated and chosen just for them – even so simple as a bedroom – would be the clean, fresh beginning she would have, even in this place. Narcissa started walking around the room, looking at some little details nobody else would probably pay attention to – the drawers, the ornaments on the door or on the chandelier – the everlasting candles on it were shining brightly even now, in the day – until she heard Lucius moving behind her. She turned back to see him, and he was closer than she had expected – actually, he was only inches away right now.

"What am I doing wrong, Cissa?" he asked, his voice somewhere between desperation and irritation, his big silver eyes widened as though she was hiding something that could save his life. Narcissa looked back at him questioningly.

"What are you talking about?" she asked cautiously.

"You're…. I don't know. You're being so quiet and you don't say anything about this whole wedding madness, and you do know that I'm doing my best, don't you?" Without even waiting for a reply, Lucius kept talking, his voice getting more hysterical with every passing second. "I just wanted to help you get used to this place and I can't figure out what's your opinion on this and what are you feelings at all right now…"

"Lucius?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Cissy took a deep breath when he complied, but even when he had stopped talking, he was still staring pointedly at her. She couldn't believe he had just said all of that. He was usually so sure of himself! She would never even guess that he would act so strangely.

"What exactly is bothering you?" she began carefully with the first question.

"I think…" Lucius's eyes left hers and wondered around the room as he tried to find the words he needed. "You were so pleased when I proposed to you and all of that. I could see how happy you were when our parents set the date for the wedding. But there's something now… something had changed, so… I'm worried that it's me and..."

With a soft laugh, Narcissa brought him closer to her for a quick, tender kiss.

"I can't believe that I must be the one reassuring you that there's nothing wrong with you, Lucius." She said quietly; a slight smile still curling her lips. "You have done nothing wrong. I love you." She took a deep breath. "If you want the truth, the idea of living here is a bit… unusual for me. But, like I said, I'll get used to it, so you have no reason to worry."

He still seemed quite offended, but relieved also – actually, Cissy thought that he looked just like her when she was little and she thought that her mother was angry at her for something. Now he smiled at her, took her hand again and took her out their room – there were still a lot of important things about the Manor she needed to see and, mostly, remember.

Now Narcissa followed him almost gladly; or at least, she wasn't as scared and repulsed by the house as she was in the beginning – now that she realised that Lucius would be around and she wouldn't be alone in all of that, the place seemed brighter and not so cold and lonely. Maybe this would eventually become her home. Not now, but some day – hopefully some day soon.

She wouldn't allow herself to be unhappy here.


End file.
